


An Iris Sunset

by CyprusVanLia



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama & Romance, Lemon, M/M, This was originally supposed to be a one-shot, Yaoi, original pairing - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2018-12-24 12:57:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 26,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12013218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyprusVanLia/pseuds/CyprusVanLia
Summary: Continuation of the short story Unexpected Words on the account DireWriting.In an alternate universe, promising Keybearers are scouted and brought to worlds with Dojos that specialize in training warriors with the promise of making them into Gaurdians or Masters. Axel and Terra, having already met as comrades under the same master, have now been dating for a few months. But some new opportunities and a trip back to Terra's home world will be the ultimate testing ground of their relationship.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fangirl_Shenanigans](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirl_Shenanigans/gifts), [DireWriting](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DireWriting/gifts).



> This is the continuation of the story Unexpected Words that I wrote for my sister who owns the account DireWriting. Dire came to me for help after being commissioned by Fangirl_Shenanigans to write a one-shot with any two characters from Kingdom Hearts for her. A few days of contemplation later, she asked how I would feel about her pairing someone with the character Terra. Being one of my favorite males from the KH universe, I was reluctant to simply allow the smokey blue eyed adonis to be paired with anyone. Nonetheless, I consented when she and I began to hash out what kind of character would be worthy of Terra’s partnership. The long debate came to a sudden and jolting halt when Axel’s name was randomly mentioned.
> 
> Axel? But Axel and Terra have never had any contact in the storyline thus far. 
> 
> But what if they did? How would they act around each other? Axel, a carefree, conniving, adorable hot head meeting Terra, a solid, purposeful, hardworking yet passionate realist. 
> 
> The idea spun in my head for no more than a few minutes before a story began to flow. My sister was gracious enough to hand me the reigns of the entire project after I gave her my basic outline of what I speculated might happen. And, just like that, the one-shot she was originally asked to make turned into my own three-part short story called Unexpected Words. 
> 
> And here we go again with these two. So yes, it’s an odd pairing. Yes, the two thus far never even meet in the actual story line and I don’t care. These two have brought me to a whole new level of writing. A level where I don’t feel I have to conform to the way everyone else perceives these characters. 
> 
> And yes, these two are one of my many OTP and I show it proudly by wearing a necklace of Terra’s keyblade and Axel’s wind and fire wheel together around my neck almost constantly. 
> 
> So please enjoy this continuation of my first ever published work. I truly hope you read this until the end and come to love these two characters together as much as I do.
> 
> -From Cyprus  
> With Love. ❄

“Terra…”

The blinding sun of a new day shone its rays through the slits of a partially covered window. Its light conjoined with the sound of a loud incessant beeping noise stirred the redhead from a deep contented slumber. Axel hated mornings. Especially mornings where there was no training at the dojo and he had forgotten to turn his alarm off the night before.

“Terra…” He grumbled, turning his face away from the bedroom wall and deeper down into his firmly snuggled pillow. “Turn it off.”

The beeping continued.

“Terra!” Axel groaned louder in irritation.

No change. 

The redhead threw his arm down on the bed beside him and turned his head loathingly towards the other side of the room, fully expecting to give his partner the loudest and rudest awakening he could manage.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The other side of the bed was empty.

A confused and exasperated grimace overtook Axel’s face as he looked disappointingly at the lack of another body next to him. 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

_SHUT UP!_

All patience lost, the boy began rolling himself over the bed, crumpling sheets and blankets in his wake, moving himself closer and closer to slamming his fist down on the damn alarm that had _oh so kindly_ woken him up. Inside, he secretly hoped he had broken the annoying piece of shit as he made sure that a _very_ firm press of a button finally silenced it. 

The eerie stillness of solitude achieved, Axel sighed heavily, turning himself onto his back to stare up at a blank ceiling. Warm narrow rays poured in from the window next to the bed frame he laid upon. Another quick glance back at the alarm clock and Axel noted to himself that it was just a few minutes after seven. And here the redhead was hoping he would get a nice steady sleep until around noon.

_Damn it..._

The absence of his partner shouldn’t have surprised him that much… but... he specifically remembered Terra telling him that he would come over right after he finished with last night’s training. Lazily maneuvering himself into an upright position the redhead stretched, pushing his arms outwards towards his toes.

“Two hundred munny…” He murmured to no one in particular, sliding his legs out from the comfort of warm covers and letting his feet sink into the plush carpet that covered his bedroom floor. 

Walking out the door, Axel found himself staring half dreamy-eyed at his own living room. The sun was apparently trying to kill him in here too as it lit the room quite nicely, much to his pupils torture. 

After a moment of letting his eyesight adjust, the redhead looked around. Nothing seemed to be out of place. The silence of the room making Axel slightly worry that his little personal bet was soon to be trounced, his lips produced a scowl and then a yawn as he began shuffling a few steps forward, moving himself towards the back of one of the living room’s couches. 

“Knew it.” He whispered as his green eyes peered over the couch’s edge. 

There was Terra, fast asleep, face up, head tilted away, mouth gaped open, and one arm almost fallen over the side. The fiery boy shook his head disapprovingly at the sight; the brunette apparently hadn’t even bothered to change out of his practice clothes. Still, it was adorable for him to see his partner so defenseless like this. Adorable… and annoying. 

“Terra.” The word poured from his lips as smoothly as water as he leaned over and continued to watch the small rising and falls of his partners relaxed chest.

“Teerrraaa.” He cooed again, a little louder this time.

“Mmmmhhh.” A quick inhale then a groan returned.

Axel chuckled as the stirring brunette pinched his eyes even harder together and then rolled his body sidewards so his head now laid in the crevice of the couches soft fabric.

“Morning, sleepyhead.”

“Mmmhh…” 

“You don’t honestly think I’m going to let you go back to sleep now, do you?” The redhead snickered crudely, though inwardly hoping that the boy wouldn’t simply turn over and try to hit him now.

A long exhale was his answer instead. 

“So… what time did you get here last night?” Axel pried while poking a finger into the brunettes limp bicep.

“One… something.” The muffled words ended with another groan. 

“And you didn’t come into bed with me... why?” 

Terra’s head turned upwards slightly and smokey blue pupils finally peered up at his own green. They were half open and full of concentrated loathing at the boy who wasn’t allowing him to rest now only a few hours after he had supposedly arrived from his training. To Axel however, this was payback. If Terra wasn’t going to sleep next to him and turn off the damn alarm when he needed him to, then he didn't get to sleep here so nicely undisturbed on his apartment’s couch. 

The smile of the redhead widened. So far so good, he thought as he watched his partner rock back to laying face up on the makeshift bed. He was winning this battle.

“I didn’t want to wake you.” The brown haired boy replied, closing his eyelids once more and throwing an arm over his face to hopefully shut out some of the blinding sunlight that had just invaded his vision.

“Really now? And did it ever occur to you that I was lying awake in my room waiting for you?” 

The room fell silent for a moment.

“No, you weren’t.”

_Damn._

“Fine, I wasn’t. I did try though.” His bluff called, Axel shrugged in the slight shame that he had only remained patient enough to wait until near midnight for his lover to show up. “Still, it is the thought that counts after all.”

“Mmhmm.” Came Terra’s only reply.

Axel’s control over the situation was quickly turning sour as his lover seemed to be returning to his resting state right in front of him. 

“Soo… How are you going to make it up to me?” 

The brown haired boy remained unmoved.

“You know, I am just the slightest bit hurt by the fact that you don't seem to care enough about our relationship to want to lay beside me on the bed I bought specifically for the two of us to share.”

“What do you want?” Terra finally asked after a small pause and an exhaled sigh.

“Well… It's been a few days since you and I have had any real… alone time together.” Axel began, leaning a bit farther over the couch to let two of his fingers begin walking themselves slowly down the resting boy’s torso down towards his prostate. “I think I’m in the mood for something tasty.”

The redhead released a couple short chuckles as his smile turned seductive and his hand slid to lay flat, mere inches from Terra’s groin.

“Fine... I’ll make breakfast.”

Maniacal laughter filled the room. Axel had won.

“You know me so well, don’t you!” He beamed, pushing himself back off of the couch with his free arm. “I’ll grab out the eggs.”

Terra groaned in defeat as he heard the stomping of feet quickly move towards the kitchen. 

“Can you get some coffee started first?” He asked, letting his arm drop from his face so he could now simply stare lazily upwards, groggy and disoriented.

“As you wish, sleepyhead.” The redhead snickered back at him. 

This was not how he wanted to wake up this morning, but Terra couldn't say he hadn’t somewhat expected it. He had learned a while back that Axel was unpredictable and extremely impulsive on his best days. And seeing as he had been this fiery boy’s partner for a few months now, he normally found himself on the receiving end of those unpredictable and impulsive whims. A hungry Axel was never something to mess with either. Terra had most certainly been amazed more than a couple times on how cunning the boy could be whenever he wanted food or just something from someone in general. 

“Dark or light coffee, sleepyhead?” 

“Light.”

“One or two sugars, sleepyhead?” 

Terra grunted, forcing himself up into a sitting position so he could more easily face towards the kitchen.

“You know how I like my coffee so stop acting like you don’t. And stop calling me sleepyhead.”

“But just look at you though.” Axel responded while pointing arrogantly at him from over the counter. “Droopy eyes, bed head, wrinkled clothing.”

“Shove it.” He replied, staring right back into those cocky green eyes Axel almost always bore. The brunette had tried many times to shoot ice out of his own blue irises at the boy. It had never worked, but he couldn't help hoping that one of these days it would. 

Terra forced himself to stand, riffling a hand through his knotted hair as he sauntered groggily towards the refrigerator. It had only been a few days since the last time he had cooked for his partner, but Axel was most certainly not a conservative eater. Anything the brunette made for him was quickly consumed within a day or two. Opening the fridge, Terra sighed. 

“What happened to all the pork cutlet I made for you the other day?” 

“Heh.” Axel shrugged, pouring the now ready coffee into a mug for the brunette. “You know I get hungry when I’m bored.” 

“Where do you put it all…” Terra whispered while shaking his head, grabbing out the milk and soy before closing the fridge’s door with his hip.

Bread. That was all Axel had eaten before the two of them started dating.

“But I like bread. And there are so many kinds of it.” Axel told him when the brunette had first confronted him about his eating habits.

Yes, there was sweet bread, meat filled bread, jelly filled bread, curry bread, _spicy_ curry bread, even one that was melon flavor (which Terra did agree was delicious once he had tried it). Nonetheless, Terra had learned to cook most of his own meals growing up and damned if he wasn’t going to try and teach Axel how to fend for himself a bit better. He was going to learn, even if this was the only thing in the world he felt the redhead would actually bother to appreciate. 

“Add a dash of milk and then scramble the eggs.” He instructed while sipping on the coffee his partner had handed him, after having added in some cream and sugar. 

“You know it's not really you paying me back if you make me do everything.” Axel retorted, taking a pair of chopsticks in hand and giving the eggs a good beating. 

“I’m just making you scramble the eggs… you think I trust you to actually cook them?” 

“Ouch. No restraint this morning, huh?” The wounded toned comment forcing Terra to looked up from his mug to check on his partner's expression. Yep, still smiling. In fact, he was grinning. 

_Why me…?_

“Coffee helping?” The redhead asked after the room turned silent for a few moments, save for the swishing of eggs and milk being combined together.

“Yeah.” Terra answered with a deep exhale, his limbs starting to feel more like they were actually attached to his body and less like they were floating in mid air. “I’m good now. I can handle the rest.” 

“As you wish, great teacher!” 

Damn, he couldn’t help it. Looking at his love standing there, bowl in one hand, chopsticks in the other, all he needed now was an apron to complete the look. The Redheaded Chef. The brunette couldn’t help but loose a quick smile at the thought. 

Terra shook his head as he grabbed the bowl from the boy and set it on the counter, then retrieved out a pan and some leftover steamed rice from the fridge that had amazingly made it until today. He had to try his best to avoid the boy's eye contact so Axel wouldn’t poke fun at him for smiling so childishly. After all, the redhead never, _ever_ passed up the chance to laugh at something. It pissed Terra off… and yet was so intoxicating how so ridiculously in tune with life he was. The boy never seemed to waste a second of it.

“Speaking of,” His partner began, switching places with the brunette and moving around the counter so he could still gaze at the side of Terra’s face while he watched him work. “how’s your little protege coming along? You worked with her last night, right?”

“Yeah, Olette is coming along really well. She’s doing a lot better with her performance anxiety now that she has had some extra time to train away from all the other students.”

“Hmmm…” Axel hummed, resting his head down on the counter top. “I still don’t get why she would freeze up like she did during practice. I mean, I get she’s young but what the hell is there to be so fucking afraid of that you would make yourself sick?” 

Terra’s eyebrow twitched. He had to resist the temptation to bark at the redhead, even if he was being a bit insensitive. 

_Not everyone is as unrestrained and bold as you are..._

A couple deep breaths in and Terra began to pour the eggs scramble into a well oiled, already hot pan. 

“It’s not that uncommon. There was a boy back on my home world who was pretty timid when he first started training there too.” 

“Oh? And did you help this boy overcome his timidness as well?” Axel pried, perking himself back up to rest his head in his palms and elbows on the counter. 

“Yeah, I guess I helped. He and I became really good friends afterwards. Aqua, him and I used to hang out after practice almost every day.”

Green eyes narrowed. Terra’s face had grown rapidly solemn at the mention of his previous friends, a boring and uninteresting expression to Axel. The redhead certainly wasn’t against nostalgia, but he never quite understood the point of rehashing through the past.

“Well so long as it gave you the experience you need to help your new little student now.” He finally remarked with a smirk at the end.

“Yeah.” Terra breathed, flipping part of the egg over a few times and gazing glossy eyed down at the barely sizzling pan, thinking back to his old home for a moment.

The brunette of course liked his place here, but he wouldn’t deny that he did miss his old world sometimes. His mother, his friends, his former Master, the small river that ran through the center of the town, the smell of the forest and groves after a rainstorm.

Terra’s mental reminiscing came to end as he felt two arms grasp him around the waist and a head lay itself down on his left shoulder. 

“Axel?” 

“You look deep in thought, sleepyhead.” 

“Sorry, I guess I got lost… I was thinking about my home world some.”

“Hmmm?” The redhead cooed, taking a lick at the brunettes exposed neck. 

“Axel stop, I need to focus or the eggs are going to get overcooked.” Terra choked as an arm raised itself up to his chest, a wide hand rubbing in circular motions around his front frame.

“You really want me to stop?” The redhead chuckled before breathing softly against the boy's earlobe. 

Terra swallowed back hard. Of course he didn’t want it to stop, but still. Why did he always have to change his voice to sound so freaking seductive whenever he wanted something...

“Just let me kiss you.” 

_Damn it…_

With an exasperated exhale, Terra released his grab on the hot pan’s handle and turned without hardly any hesitation. Reaching around his partner, the brunette surrendered his body to the redhead’s whims. They purred, lips conjoined, eyes shut, and bodies as tightly wrapped around each others as they could manage at the moment. Half sleepy bliss flowed between them as both seemed to weaken by the second of their eyes remaining closed. 

“See.” Axel snickered after a minute or so when the two finally pulled apart. “That was all I really wanted.”

“You’re an asshole.” The brunette groaned letting his arms relax back down to his sides. “And now the omelette is overdone.”

“Hehe, I love you too, Terra.” 

Pulling himself away, the brunette turned quickly back around, grabbing the pan and flipping the now more than ready omelet over onto a plate. 

“You're blushing, aren’t you.” Axel mocked, still staring at the back of his partners slightly hanging head as the brunette cut the rectangular egg concoction into smaller pieces. 

No response.

“So tell me then, are you nervous?” 

“About what?” Terra replied quickly in an almost panicked tone, turning around with a ready plate in his hand. 

“Next week, silly.” The redhead laughed as he gazed at his rather flummoxed partner. “What did you think I was talking about?” 

“I… Yeah. I’m a bit nervous.” 

“Don’t be.” Axel purred, stepping forward and planting another soft kiss on his partner's lips. “It’ll be fun. And I’ll be by your side the whole time.”

The two stared silently at each other for a moment, Terra feeling like a dazed animal and Axel the steady hunter.

“Thanks for breakfast.” The redhead remarked, nimbly grabbing the plate out of the brunettes grasp without breaking their eye contact.

With that, the fiery boy turned, his grin blazing, and walked out of the kitchen and over to the table a few paces away, sitting himself down with his back to the brunette who was, at the moment, trying to bring down his heart rate. 

Axel amazed Terra.... Not that he would ever admit it to that arrogant, egotistical maniac himself, but…

“Heh... I love you too.” The brown haired boy said even more silently than a whisper into the air before he began to walk over to the table to join his lover. 

 

❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄.

 

“Come on, Terra! Is that the best you’ve got?!” Axel yelled, egging his partner on with a mocking laugh at the end. 

Earth flew at the redhead from the side of the sparing room, nearly grazing him across the face as he twirled midair, slicing a different chunk of earth in half with his keyblade as he did.

 _Woah… that was close._ Axel thought to himself as he landed firm on the ground now opposite from his opponent. 

The onlooking crowd was hushed. The two boys stared momentarily at each other, thinking, plotting, waiting for any movement that could be taken as a signal to re-initiate the power struggle between them. 

_My turn._

Throwing the brunette a quick grin, Axel phazed forward, Keyblade aflame, body swift and flexible to move in any direction he needed to at a moment's notice. Terra seemed ready for him though. The brown haired boy skipped sidewards, phazing to the edge of their designated arena, throwing back a few ill-natured earth chunks in his wake followed up by a windstorm that curved until it formed a path straight at the redhead. Still not fast enough. Up into the air, Axel jumped, the strength of fire propelling him even more upwards and then across. His feet as though rockets, pushed him away from the danger, at least momentarily. 

_Not bad, Terra._

Axel descended, poised and waiting for the next attack which came oh so very quickly. Terra obviously had every intention of winning this battle, which only made the excitement in the fiery boy’s chest rise. After all, he loved a good challenge. 

One slash, then another, then another, four more in rapid succession. The brunette's body spun with his blade, across, down, diagonal, each swing perfectly placed and each utterly deadly against a normal opponent. Axel waited patiently, holding his keyblade in close as he blocked the strikes that were being slammed into it one by one. 

Somehow, even though he was being overpowered, the boy could only chuckle as Terra completed the combo and threw one more heavy slash upwards towards his face. The two stared each other down, the metal of two Keyblades in deadlock scraping against each other. Axel’s weakness against his opponents brute strength pushed him sideways as the redhead barely maintained his position with both hands firmly grasped on the handle of his own blade. 

_Well shit. Let’s try..._

“Heh. This isn’t turning you on, is it Terra?” 

It was a wild card and rather unsportsmanlike, but then Axel knew he wasn’t known for ever playing fair. 

And it worked.

Terra’s focus and power waned even if only for a moment and it was all the time he needed. Axel slid downward, underneath and around the opposing blade that was nearly about to smack him in the head. Multiple previous battles had taught the fiery boy that he needed to have as much space as possible when he faced off against his brown haired partner and he had just regained that advantage.

_Oh now he’s mad…_

Terra furiously spun to follow his trail, eyes narrowed and glowing embers at the boy who had just used a dirty ass trick to gain the upperhand in the battle. Earth soared at Axel, followed promptly by Terra himself dashing across the room in an attempt to reclaim control of the power flow. 

“Burn.” Axel teased as the brunette reached his position, swinging his keyblade down at him with all his might. Only he wasn’t actually there. In the split second Terra had thrown his freakin’ rocks at him, Axel had cast for himself a fire portal, and while it did take a lot of energy and magic power to use, it was so worth it.

“Let’s try this again!” He cried as he appeared on the other side of the room and summoned bright red and yellow flaming rings to hover around the perimeter of the arena. 

The redhead willed all the circles to move, zipping across the room faster than Terra could move out of the way. One circle slammed into him, then another at his back, none of them were really doing any great harm, but the force was certainly throwing the boy off balance. All the rings suddenly conjoined upon the brunettes locationing, scorching him in a heat that even the redhead could feel from his place across the ways.

Axel watched carefully as Terra fell upon one knee. Though his spell may have crackled and ended, the battle wasn’t done quite yet. One more shot, that was all he needed, and there was no way the brunette wouldn’t give this last chance his all. Quickly pushing himself up, Terra seemingly summoned everything he had left. His keyblade pulsed, his body glowed, the brunette looked almost so ferocious that it wouldn't have surprised the redhead if he suddenly just roared. 

_And… go._

Both boys lept at each other, each wielding their keyblade and element in hand. They met dead center of the room. The strength of the two’s clash sending a powerwave rippling outwards towards the gasping onlookers. 

_I win._

At the center of the room, Axel stood tall albeit winded over his completely kneeling comrade. The two panting like dogs as the realization that the battle was now over consumed them both.

“Axel is the victor.” They both heard the Master say but only a second later. 

The crowd went wild. Cheers and hollers filled the practice room as the almost entire student body of the dojo stood to applaud the effort of both boys. 

“You okay?” The redhead asked downwards between pants.

“Yeah…” Terra replied after a couple moments as he lifted himself up and back to standing firm before his comrade. “Nice fight.” 

“Heh, I do try.” he snickered, followed by a long heave as he tried to inhale a full lungs worth of air.

The brunette rolled his eyes as a sarcastic grin squeezed its way heavily out onto his face. 

“That was quite the battle, you two.” The master remarked as he stepped over towards the boys. “I would suggest you both go get checked by the healer before going home.” 

“Nahh.” Axel scoffed. “Just a few scratches. A hot shower and we’ll be back to normal.”

That being said, the redhead bowed to the older man and began to head towards the locker rooms.

“Terra?” He asked turning back as he realized that his partner was not following him after a few paces.

“I’ll meet you in the changing room, I’m just going to get healed for this burn on my shoulder.” The brunette replied placing a hand just above his left collarbone. 

“Want me to go with you?” Axel almost teased, taking a few steps towards the boy and reaching out his hand as though he wanted his comrade to take it. 

“That won’t be necessary.” Cold blue eyes glared at him. “I’ll meet you in the changing room.”

Axel laughed and waved the boy a quick “bye” as the brunette turned to walk, slightly limping, in the opposite direction from the redhead. 

While not everywhere,Terra still in some instances felt awkward to be seen walking side by side or especially hand in hand with the fiery boy. He knew his partner loved to feel independent, and it was always fun, for him at least, to poke a hole in that strong, unwavering appearance everyone thought Terra had. Unfortunately this time, most of the other students were already heading home or to their lockers so hardly anyone had noticed how stiff the steady boy had suddenly become when Axel had offered out his hand like a mother trying to lead her child. Hardly anyone… save for the Master who was now giving him a repulsively stern, unamused look. 

Awkwardly bowing once more, Axel squeezed away his grin while trying to hold back the slight feeling of embarrassment for his actions before he began swiftly walking away. 

 

❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄.

 

“Holy shit, Axel!” Tidus, one the boys from a lower year who had recently started hanging out with the redhead and his crew, remarked as the fiery boy opened the door to the changing room. “That battle was awesome, I can’t believe you pulled it off!” 

“Haha, yeah man! Seifer was pretty damn sure Terra was gonna win this time.” Another of his friends, Zach, chimed in while the slightly battle worn redhead moved to sit down on one of the benches. 

“What?” Axel shot out, turning his head to where Seifer was leaning against the wooden lockers. “You think he’s a better fighter than me?”

The blonde haired boy shrugged, unmoved by his comrade’s haughty attitude against him. 

“It’s normally a fifty-fifty chance with you two.”

“He does have a point, ya know! I wouldn’t want that power house as my enemy!” Seifer’s long time friend, Rai, mentioned with a laugh at the end. “I mean, you two are pretty much even in score, right?”

Axel grinned.

“I lead five to three now.”He flaunted, rolling his neck to the side in confidence. 

A couple of the surrounding boys chuckled. 

“You're gonna have some fun taking your victory prize tonight, huh? Going all night long, you sick bastard!” Zach cackled, to which the redhead simply smirked.

Ah, locker room discussion. The one place in the dojo that the boys could really be boys without putting on any airs of respect or maturity. Axel loved the feeling of all his friends singing his praises. Sure, he already knew that he was one of the top students in the Dojo but it still never hurt to be told it at least a few times a day. 

“Victory prize?” Tidus asked with a bit of a lost puppy look on his face.

“Less than a week after Terra and I first started dating, we made a bet against each other and the winner got to make the loser do any one thing he wanted.” Axel started while the rest of the group snickered. “It was simple embarrassing or cute things for the first couple times we made these bets but… as you might imagine with the two of us it’s recently turned more... raunchy.”

There was no way the redhead’s grin could get any bigger at that moment. While still not very experienced in bed, Terra definitely had a good imagination to compensate for his shortfalls, and he showed it off very well on those nights. The brunette loved using his hands to feel around Axel’s skin. His touch was delicate and sensual. The redhead, being more right to the point when it came to their love making, fully enjoyed the drawn out teasing the brunette would bring into the bedroom. And dear Kingdom Hearts, his moan...

“It’s still hard to picture Terra doing all the things you say he does when you two fuck, ya know?” Rai noted after Axel finished his little explanation, to which Seifer simply scoffed.

“Trust me, it was hard for me to believe too at first.” He answered quickly, taking a long draught from a water bottle next to him afterwards. 

“Speak of the devil.” Seifer mentioned calmly as he noticed the changing room door opening and the brown haired boy begin walking through. 

“Terra!” Axel called out in excitement, the rest of the group simply throwing the approaching boy some smiles and waves as he walked slowly over to them.

“Doc fix you up?” The redhead teased while standing up from the bench to greet him.

“Yeah, I’m fine now.” Calm lips answered with a weak smile at the end. 

“Good. I was a little worried I may had overdone it a bit.” 

Terra openly rolled his eyes in reply, his strength obviously drained as his body and shoulders in particular looked to be slouching.

“I’m kinda surprised you didn’t need to go to the healers too, Axel.” Another of his close comrades, Demyx, remarked with an honest tone. 

“Me? Nah. I got enough energy to go another round at least.” The redheads fiery personality retorted back without any forethought. 

“Ohh?” Terra’s eyebrows lifted. “Good to hear you have so much energy now. The other night in bed it seemed as though you were having trouble keeping up with me.” 

Axel’s face froze as the boys around him including his partner started chuckling. 

“I guess maybe you had just eaten too much beforehand. Good to know it will be better this coming time around.”

The group of boys save for Seifer all let out a harmonious “Oooo...” as Terra finished his statement.

 _What the fuck..._

“I’m going to go shower.” An arrogant smile mixed with narrowed smokey blue eyes shot the redhead a cocky look before the brunette turned to go grab a towel from his locker.

Axel’s teeth gritted in annoyance as he watched his partner walk away, first to the lockers and then past them to where the shower’s were located.

“Cocky bastard.”

“Aww, come on Axel. Don’t look so pissed off. You’re just not as good with taming wild animals as you thought you were.” Demyx joshed as the air around the bunch seemed to be heating up with the fiery boy’s temper, not that that was stopping any of the other boys from choking on their suppressed laughter. 

“Like hell I’m not.”

The remaining group stood dumbfounded as the redhead began removing his shirt, throwing it roughly onto the bench behind him once it was removed. 

“Woah, man! Chill out!” Zach said in slight concern as the redhead stood half nude before them. 

“Any of you don't want to hear the sound of Terra moaning in ecstasy, I suggest you leave now.” 

That said and without looking back at his friends, Axel grabbed a free towel from a stack nearby and angrily turned to follow his brown haired partner to the showers. 

 

❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. 

 

Relaxation. The feeling of tight muscles releasing the tension of a hard fought battle. Hot beads of water caressing his bare, uncovered skin. Solitude. Most everyone in the Dojo had already left before the healer was even halfway done examining him and thank Kingdom Hearts that the locker room wasn't much different. Even the showers felt nice and secluded for once. Each faucet may have had its own set of walls protecting it, but still… 

Terra was tense. He knew he shouldn't have said what he did back there, and that he was going to pay for it later…

“Three to five.” He whispered to himself as small streams of water slipped into his open mouth. 

He knew Axel had just been trying to show off. Not that he could really blame him. If he could be so selfish to admit, what he really had wanted was to be the victorious one surrounded by all their friends, laughing and joking while Axel was the one gettings spells cast over him in the healers room. Yet once again here he was, the loser, for the fifth time since they had started dating. Terra rolled his neck around to pull at the muscles and then crack it ever so slightly back into place. 

He was tense, but the shower was helping. 

He just… had to train harder.

The brunette sighed deeply. Terra wondered at times why he trained so hard to beat Axel. The redhead had been at the Dojo almost four years longer than he had, and while the gap in their skills was now much smaller than it used to be, it was certainly obvious in their battles against each other that it was a gap he wondered if would ever truly close. No matter how much he trained, something was still lacking… something…

Terra shut his eyes and took in a long inhale. 

_Deep breaths._

_Just breath…_

_Just…_

“Well don’t you look relaxed.” 

Blue eyes jarred open. The brunettes senses sharpening once more, water sprayed now irritatingly across his face, blinding him as he turned quickly around. 

“Axel!” He sputtered, wiping a hand across his eyes so he could see again. “What are you...?”

The redhead didn’t move. He simply started almost cruelly at the water-touched boy.

“Didn’t you already shower?” Terra continued a bit concerned of his partner's intentions, coming to join him so unexpectedly. And the look on his fiery partner’s face wasn't making him feel any calmer.

“Nope, I was waiting for you.” Axel’s voice crisply stated, his narrowed eyes still not leaving the brunettes face. The blazing green irises glanced suddenly downwards and then rose slowly back up; a tell tale sign to Terra of what was going on in his lovers head. 

Axel was hungry. 

“What are you-?” 

The redhead reached out and shoved the brunette to the wall. Both boys, stark naked, were now being sprayed under the warm waters touch. Axel’s hands pushed hard against muscle toned shoulders, barely holding any sensible grip on them but nonetheless forcing the boy back for the moment. Even in the slippery walls of the showers, Terra was no where near defenseless and he knew the redhead could only do so much to restrain him now. Grabbing at his partner's wrists, Terra wrung them both from his shoulders and shoved them downwards, refusing to release them with firm, straight locked elbows. 

“What in Kingdom Hearts do you think you’re doing?!?!” 

Axel smiled conivingly.

“I won. And I want my prize. That’s all.” 

Terra’s mouth gaped open in utter disbelief of what his partner in front of him had just said. His eyelids blinked quickly as he tried to think of something, anything to say in return. 

“Here!?” He finally spilled out. 

“It's my right to choose, isn’t it?” 

The redhead’s smile was getting wider by the moment. He wasn't even trying to fight back against the brunette's grip on him. And Terra knew why… He couldn’t refuse, even if he wanted to. That was the condition of the bet. Whether he liked it or not he would have to concede and let Axel have his way. But… Not again. Not here, where any one of their comrades or hell their superiors could hear them, or, Kingdom Hearts forbid, see them. 

“Let go of my wrists, Terra.” Unwavering words told him, the command stabbing the brown haired boy like a knife to the chest. 

_Shit…_

The sound of pouring water drowned out the heavier pants Terra was now exhaling. Overpowering the readhead and leaving the Dojo would only draw attention to both him and Axel. Not to mention a fight between the two of them later on. Most everyone was gone for the day, so the chances of them getting caught were slimmer, but… 

“Terra. Let go.” 

_Shit..._

There it was. That tone. The one that was only his, its conniving sultry hum that beckoned the brunette like a siren’s call. His name being purred to him… The sound that only _his_ voice could make… could make him feel...

“Don’t,” Terra felt his heart pound to a near stop as his eyes watched Axel cock his head to the side slightly, a wide toothless grin from the boy sending a shudder down through him. “ _Please_ don’t be too loud.” 

And with that, he let go. 

Smokey blue eyes observed bright green turn to passion's fire as the brunette pushed himself fully back up against the stone cold wall, mentally and physically bracing himself for what he knew was now about to happen. 

Warm water aroused them both as their bodies conjoined. Lips, chests, groins, thighs, all touching, all slipping against the others. There were no affectionate hums, simply heaving. Lips shoved together, pulled barely apart then locked back onto the others over and over, with only the water serving as any sort of barrier. Axel drank the taste of Terra as his mouth tore from the boy’s lips to suck at his neck, lapping up the trickles running across his skin as he ventured down. 

“Touch me.” The redhead ordered, raking his nails lightly up his partners back.

Damn it. It apparently didn't matter that people were still around, Axel wanted it, and apparently Terra did too as he felt his lowers starting to react to the sensation of it all. And whatever Axel wanted, he got. Including him… It was so aggravating, and so utterly enslaving... 

“Why...?” 

“Cause I asked you to.” Axel threw back snidely, shoving himself closer to the boy as he did in a show of dominance. 

“No, not-” Terra panted, mentally trying to conjoin his thoughts. 

“What?” A slightly concerned tone asked him, not that it would help all the noise in the brunette’s head go away. 

“Nothing.” He finally replied, his eyes closing in total surrender. 

_Just breath…_

“Touch me.” The redhead repeated though this time as a seductive whisper in the boy’s ear, a hand slipping into brown tangled hair to caress his scalp. “Get me hard, so I can ravage you.”

Those words were good enough for Terra. Any thoughts left him as he let his hands slide down to his partners cock. Nips at his neck resumed as he massaged the member within his grasp. The length pulsed to his touch, his fingers gipping it at different strengths as he stroked it up and down. 

He loved the feeling of the tip. Its bulbous shape, it’s curves and the slit that just seemed to beg for something to push into it. Maybe he loved it so much because he knew how much pleasure it was sending into his comrade with every circle he gave it. Whether or not his mind was enjoying it, Axel’s body certainly didn’t take long to respond as the member quickly reached it’s full potential after only a few caresses.The duo cooed as the redhead pushed his body closer once more, hard erections now touching. 

Mouth slightly gaped, the tongue of the brunette curled in on itself, licking just below his bottom teeth before he flicked it back up with the strum of quickly growing sensations. Axel was playing him like a harp now. Soft then forcful suckling, a hand needing through his hair, and now the grinding of pelvises, he had the boy exactly at the point of pleasure he wanted him too.

Grabbing off to the side, the fiery boy adjusted the knob that controlled the temperature and flow of the water falling down on them. Within seconds, Terra gasped in slight surprise. Axel had turned the heat of the water up. It certainly wasn't burning them but the feeling of it was only adding to the already heightened sensations coursing through him. 

“Aren’t you hard enough, yet?” Terra groaned down to Axel’s face which was still buried in his collar bone. 

A chuckle and a soft kiss on his skin. The normal reply. 

With no words, Axel pushed up from the brunettes neck. Solid hands grabbed at his biceps, turning the boy around, pulling his waist back next, and then forcing him to arch until he was bent well over and completely wide open. No fingers today. The redhead’s length was placed at his hole with little hesitation. The small amount of precum that the shower hadn’t washed off slicked the puckering entrance as he rub it up down the boy’s crack a couple times with a small amount of force. Terra’s hands braced against the cold stone wall. 

_Deep breath in._

Muscles relaxed and Axel took his chance, shoving his cock fully inwards. 

“Ahhhh… Terra.” The redhead’s voice, filled with revelled pleasure, sung behind him. 

Hands grasped at his waist and the thrusts began, pushing the brunette’s head and torso closer to the wall with every pulse. They both groaned as the motion continued, breath quickly turning to controlled panting. While the sensation was incredible, it was still odd to Terra, something shoving itself so far deep within him. It pushed at him, touched him in ways that everytime kept surprising the brunette. The pounding kept going for what seemed like an eternity, and every thought he now had simply cried for more. More licks on his neck, more tounge lapping at his earlobe. And dear Kingdom Hearts… more of that fiery boys length inside him. 

“Axel...” Terra moaned after a short while of being constantly rammed, his voice loud enough to outdo the sound of the water around them.

Everytime. Axel took his moans as a signal. Bringing his arms around the brunettes waist, the redhead pulled the boy upwards from the wall and back towards him. His firm shoulders laying flush against his partner chest, hot beads poured down on Terra’s upturned face, the back of his head now craned back into the crock of Axel neck. 

“Enjoying this?” The redhead asked as he began using only his pelvis to push upwards into the brunette at a slow but forceful speed.

Did he really need to say it? Terra’s mouth was gaped, a small pool of water filling the cavity and his eyes were closed to block out the relentless downpour. He couldn’t have said it even if wanted to at the moment. The boy's body jolted as one of Axel’s hands slid to steady itself on his pecs while the other hand went down… The redhead gently squeezed Terra’s solid member near the base of the shaft a few times, it’s contractions sending waves of ecstasy through the boy. With a chuckle at the brunette’s reaction, Axel shuffled them forward, out of the direct spray of the shower head and only about a foot away from the wall. 

“Brace yourself forward. I’ll handle the rest.” The fiery boy teased, rubbing one of Terra’s nipples between two fingers. 

Quick rapid thrusts pounded upwards into Terra as his arms alone grasped forward at concrete. His panting was starting to produce a sort of cry sound along with them as his body shook, strumming pleasure from head to toe. Axel’s hand carried up and down his length, edging him, pulling at everything that was holding his loudest, most guttural moan deep within his chest. 

“How long can you hold it in for?” The redhead’s sultry voice mocked him just behind his ear. 

The stimulation was too much, it was always too much. No matter how hard he fought it, Axel knew just when and where to touch him to make him explode. 

“Hold it in for a bit more now.” The voice continued, a hum vibrating through his chest as it ended.

“I… Ahhh! Fuck, Axel!” 

_Shit…_ He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. But he could barely keep it repressed any more. He wanted to cry out so badly, to not care that there were others possibly around. It just… felt so damn good. In Axel’s tender hand, his member cried for release. His entire body wanted it as it strummed euphoria. Toes curled, breaths heaving, upper body muscles contracting.

“Fuck… I’m gonna cum…” The brunette admitted almost weakly, his head lolling inwards to the redheads chest. 

“Hold it in, love.” He was ordered, to his absolutely torture.

Terra’s body convulsed. Axel was amazingly talented with multi-tasking. His ability to continue thrusting so forcefully into him while pleasuring the brunette from the front was seemingly unparalleled. Perfectly timed, in a beautiful rhythm of penetrations and strokes down his precum slicked cock. 

“Ahhhhh!” The brunette cried out sharply as Axel pressed and drug a finger up the underside of his length. 

Something to grab, he needed that right now if there was going to be any chance of him suppressing his body’s imminent release. Raising one hand from the wall, Terra reached his arm backwards and spun his fingers tightly into the redheads drenched locks. His chest and general body motion now played in almost perfect sync with his partners, rolling both up and down with him. 

Tightening every muscle he could within his lower pelvis, including the ones surrounding his inner wall, the brunette tried to restrain himself even more. It was absolute pleasurable agony, holding it all in. His head still nestled back within his partner’s collar bone, Terra began to fully and unconsciously moan.

“Shit, Terra! Tighter!” Axel’s voice almost pleaded beside him. 

Tightening those lower muscles was a double edged sword. It helped stop him from cumming so quickly but it also allowed Axel’s cock to hit every nerve possible deep within him. Small, innocent moans turned louder as the thrusting sped up. It didn’t matter now where he was, or who could hear him, he just wanted to cum. That was all he wanted. Faster and faster the width of Axel’s cock struck him. The brunette could feel his knees giving way. 

“Axel! I can’t-!” Terra’s voice cracked.

All his muscles spasmed, white seed spilling out of him as his voice cried out. 

“Ohh fuck yes!” The redheads voice harmonized with the moaning boy, as he took a few more thrusts upwards into the brunette before releasing his semen deep within him. 

The two breathed, Terra’s hand releasing the red hair he held as his body slightly sunk while he recuperated. The hot water, now lukewarm to the touch, washing away the extra cum that slowly seeped from the brunette’s hole as Axel pulled his length slowly out of him. With a heavy gasp, the brunette fell forwards onto the wall and slid downwards to his hands and knees on the shower floor. 

“Woah, Terra!” Axel exclaimed in slight panic, swiftly bending over to check on his partner. “What’s wrong?”

“You,” The brunette began in between pants. “you beat me in a duel. A duel in which I used practically all my energy to fight, then you decide to fuck me less than thirty minutes later. What do you think is wrong?!” 

Axel smiled amusingly at the utterly exhausted boy before him. 

“Sorry, I didn’t think about that.” He chuckled. 

_I noticed…_

“Think about it this way. Now you can sleep as soon as you get home and you won't have to worry about me keeping you up for sex.” The fiery boy pointed out with sincerity after a couple pants. “You kind of asked for this though, trying to make me look bad in front of our friends.” 

Terra’s blue eyes turned in disbelief to gaze at his partner. 

_Seriously?!_

“Just turn the water off, Axel.”

Terra was beyond exhausted now. His limbs ached, his lungs ached, his heart was still pounding like a drum, and now the inside of his ass hurt a bit too. And he still had to walk all the way home. The brunette picked himself up slowly, trying to round his shoulders completely to convince himself that he had more energy than he truly did. The redhead did as asked, turning the knob for the showers all the way to the left until the water ceased spraying from the shower head. 

He couldn’t be mad, and that was making Terra upset. He had enjoyed that, oddly. He had enjoyed the heat of the steam rising all around them. He had enjoyed grasping at the redhead’s hair while he ravaged him. He enjoyed it, like he always did with Axel. 

No reason to stick around anymore… Turning towards the open hallway and trying to catch his breath, Terra grabbed his towel from a small basket just around the corner of the more or less enclosed showering area. Wrapping it around his waist, the brunette started to leave.

“Uhff… Axel?” The boy pried questioningly as the redhead grabbed one of his wrists and prevented him from fully walking away. 

The two stared at each other silently for a moment, the sound of water drips and heavy breaths as the only background to each others steady eye contact. 

“What is it?” Terra tried another question as his partner slowly began to shuffle closer in towards him.

“You look tired.” Calm albeit weakened words pleasantly pointed out, Axel’s green eyes almost seeming to have a glint to them as his face pulled in close to the brunettes. “Wanna crash on my couch tonight? Or better yet…” 

The redhead rounded his free arm around the brunette, pulling him in close so that the front of their frames were touching. 

“I have a bed made for two we could share.” 

“This,” Terra stopped mid sentence, trying to pull his thoughts together as the feeling of Axel’s skin engulfed him once again. “this is payback for yesterday still, isn’t it?”

“Maybe a little.” The redhead snickered, still holding dead-eye contact with the brunette’s own smokey blue. 

“You’re an asshole.” 

“And yet you love me for it, don't you?” Axel retorted quickly, his grin ever holding. 

Terra sighed. He had lost this round. This time, all he could do was just give in.

“You love me, Terra.” The redhead whispered onto his lips, the soft breath of his partner sending a warm feeling through the brunettes entire body. 

“Yeah I do.” He responded with an almost exasperated exhale. “Don’t rub it in.” 

Axel chuckled, releasing his hold on the boy, and moving to grab his own towel from right next to where Terra had previously placed his. Grabbing up the practice clothes that they had earlier shed, the duo walked out back towards the lockers, the redhead leading out in front. 

Terra’s mind raced as he hoped to Kingdom Hearts that no one was left in the room save for them two, and if there were that they hadn’t heard anything… although he felt that was slightly doubtful considering how loud he had unintentionally become in the heat of things. Rounding a corner to the main entrance of the changing rooms, Terra exhaled in relief. There was no one else there.

“You okay?” Axel asked when he heard the deep sigh Terra released behind him.

“Yeah, I’m just kind of glad no one else is in here.” The brunette commented, moving to his own locker and grabbing out his bag and clothes. 

“Heh heh. Nah, most of them had cleared out before you even came back from the healers.” Axel mentioned, also grabbing his extra set of clothes before throwing off his towel.

The duo changed rapidly, trying to shield themselves from the colder air that was now hitting their skin. 

“Plus,” Mumbled words began as the redhead pulled his shirt over his head. “I’m guessing our group cleared out pretty quickly once I told them I was going to be fucking you in there.”

All movement of the brunette halted, his body facing towards his comrade, his bag only half slung up onto his shoulder. 

“Damn it, Axel...You told them?!”

The fiery boy remained unphased, grabbing up his belonging and throwing his dampened towel into a small basket close by. 

“Well I’m certainly beat for the day.” Axel mentioned with a satisfied tone, as he turned to address his dumbfounded lover. 

The boy’s grin grew wider. There was a look of panicked embarrassment written all over his brown haired partner’s face. 

Oh yes, he loved seeing Terra like this.

“So, back to my place then?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! This is the first thing I have ever published with my name and my name alone attached to it and I would be more than lying if I said I wasn't scared to death to finally get this chapter up for everyone to see. So please leave me your comments letting me know how you feel about this work. I am still a complete newbie at writing and would love some constructive criticism to help push me forward to actually completing the whole story. I will be writing one chapter ahead so I wont publish my next chapter until I have finished chapter 3. Hopefully that will be soon.
> 
> Again, I really truly hope you enjoyed this chapter and please feel free to leave me your comments.
> 
> -From Cyprus  
> With Love. ❄


	2. Chapter 2

“Again.” Terra commanded firmly. “Back into position.”

Olette poised herself, Keyblade grasped tightly in her right hand, knees well bent, and legs slightly staggered with her left leading out in front.

“Good.” The observing boy noted, impressed by her quick compliance to his request. “Now begin.”

The girl took a deep breath in and shut her eyes. The air of the practically deserted training hall filled her lungs as she concentrated on pulling forth her own inner power. Her target was four training posts, each set to form an arch shape in front of her. Deep from her lungs, Olette summoned her magic, spreading it as quickly as possibly through her body till it reached even to the ends of her fingertips.

“Haaa!” She cried suddenly, reopening her eyes and releasing the built up energy all at once. With a solid step forward she swung her keyblade horizontally across her chest, a blue power flowing out of the blade in the form of a thin, razor-like stream of water that flew forward towards her targets in a curved shape. The liquid jet sliced at the wooden posts, carving a sizable mark into each one before the spell ended, fizzling into the air.

“Not bad, but you’re still not releasing your power evenly enough to hold the slash till the very end of your attack.” Terra commented, having silently watched the girl from only a few paces behind.

Olette sighed, nodding her head as she accepted the criticism her tutor was giving her.

Stepping forward towards the posts, Terra checked the farthest one on the girl’s left and then the one next to it, running his fingers against the grooves the girl had made with her last strike. Just as he thought, the cut in the one on her far left wasn’t as deep as the ones closer to her dominant arm.

“Your form is nearly flawless now, but remember,” He began, walking back to stand side by side with his trainee so he could demonstrate. “when attacking multiple opponents, never use all your energy to defeat just one or you risk being helpless to protect yourself as others attack you. Evenly spread your power with a smooth exhale as your strike.”

“Right.” She agreed respectfully, mimicking the swing with a solid, fluid breath.

“Now, again.”

Terra’s eyes watched even more closely this time as his student took her stance. A deep inhale from the girl and the brunette male caught the glint of energy beginning its swirl around her. His student had grown well over the past couple months or so that he had been helping her train, and it was certainly starting to show in more than a few ways. Her attacks didn’t seem to take her nearly any time at all to mentally prepare now. With only a few seconds to concentrate, Olette pushed the energy to her blade, stepping forwards and driving it once more across her body, sending the deadly stream of liquid flying towards the targets. The slash flowed from her fairly seamlessly, It’s power cutting into the wood before her with deadly, even precision.

“Better.” Terra praised, honestly impressed at the genuine difference he saw from her last attempt.

The brown haired girl smiled as she turned to face her teacher, her face slightly aglow with satisfaction.

“Keep trying hard on this one. Your talents work well with quick elemental strikes so this one will come in handy, especially in a pinch.” he commented, smiling back at her. “Come on, let’s take a small break.”

A couple months of practice, that was all, but Terra was finding himself truly impressed with the girl. Olette was an underling in Axel’s division, magic and speed based users, and she had started at the Dojo not long before he and the redhead had begun dating. From what Axel had told him, the young teenager had been undeniably bright and optimistic about being a student there and had showed a lot of promise just in her first couple weeks of practice.

One afternoon though, the Master called upon her to fight against Seifer in front of her fellow classmates. By complete chance, Terra had come to watch Axel’s scheduled fight that day and in turn was privy to watch hers as well. One wouldn't have had to be very observant to have noticed the shakiness in Olette’s stance as she stood opposite her opponent on the floor. The poor girl didn’t stand a chance and she herself knew it as her previous meal erupted onto the floor of the sparring hall as Seifer’s mind numbing eyes stared her down before the battle had even begun. The silence of the room that day was ear piercing as all the students, including Terra himself, held in their breaths as the Master sternly dismissed the brown haired girl to the showers and commanded her to come to his office afterwards.

Word of the incident traveled fast throughout the rest of the dojo from all the whispers and snickers of the students that had witnessed it; even the apprentices were gossiping to each other about what had happened. Seifer, when asked, only scoffed at the matter and Terra noted that most of the other boys in the locker room seemed to be in agreeance that if the girl couldn’t handle the pressure that she wouldn't last much longer as one of their comrades.

It was true. Harsh, but still true, Terra thought to himself as he stayed behind a bit longer than most of the students to get in some extra training. Without a steeled mind to face your opponent, there was no reason to even wield a keyblade. Terra knew this, and yet as he trained, he couldn't help himself from occasionally glancing towards the hallway, wondering if Olette was still being talked to by the master or whether she had already returned home.

His question was answered shortly later as he saw the figure of a small girl walking alone down the hall, her head hung so low that her bangs were completely covering her face. After a moment of thought and with a deep sigh, Terra left the training room and followed after her, not even sure what he was going to say to the poor depressed female. But as he turned a corner, he found the girl sitting slumped on the floor, her back pressed firmly to the dojo’s wooden wall and her knees pulled nearly to her chin.

Pity. Sure, that's what he had felt, but then again Terra wasn't sure that anyone who saw such a sight wouldn't have felt the same thing. Without a word, he had sat down next to her. The sniffling, puffy eyed girl was obviously surprised by his presence as she quickly looked away and tried to wipe her eyes of any tears and push the hair out of her face. Terra flinched a bit as the girl next to him suddenly yelped though, and at a closer look, he noticed that Olette had accidentally tangled her bracelet in her hair as she was hastily brushing it out of her face.

“Here, let me.” Terra offered grabbing the girl's wrist gently and slowly pulling out strands of brown hair from the blue beaded accessory.

“Thanks.” She replied softly, rubbing her wrist a bit after her hair had been completely freed.

The tension between the two already passed, Olette began to talk a bit. First expressing her embarrassment of the day’s early event, then moving on to her loneliness and fear of being a failure in this new world. Terra listened silently, he didn't have any words of wisdom for her, but he was sure that he felt some sense of understanding with how she felt in that moment.

“I want to be stronger.” She choked out after the two had been quiet for a bit.

There it was. The reason he felt like he had a kinship with this girl.

He knew that feeling. He knew it all too well.

After a moment of hesitation, Terra calmly suggested on taking her back to the training hall to practice with him. Of course, she had protested at first but, well….

“So how about for you then, Terra?” Olette asked as they walked to the edge of the training room to where they had a few small bottles of water. “I don’t normally see you practice any wide area attacks. Do you just avoid multiple targets?”

“In a sense.” The boy chuckled, a bit surprised by the question. “My best skills are targeted at a single opponent but I can use earth or air attacks or even some phazing and quick strikes to fell multiple enemies within a very short period of time if need be.”

“Hmmm.” the girl murmured, as though trying to decide if she liked her teacher's answer or not. “Isn’t it just generally better to be more flexible in a fight though?”

“Yes…” Terra responded with a bit of a pensive tone as he tried to think of how best to answer her. “but my strength gives me the ability to help take down larger or more heavily armored creatures that normal attacks or magic can’t. That strength, I suppose, is my gift.”

“Can I see?” Olette asked, her voice rising with a bit of excitement.

Terra was definitely surprised now. Normally he practiced his stronger attacks with one of the Master’s apprentices so as to minimize any possible damage. But he guessed it wouldn’t hurt showing off just a bit...

_What the hell._

Setting his bottle of water down, the brunette turned and walked a few paces back towards the training posts. He stepped over a bit to the right to make sure Olette had a good view.

“My power is drawn from my core, unlike yours which is drawn from your lungs.”

Terra focused hard, he could feel a warm sensation growing deep inside of him as he stared down the single wooden target a good twenty five feet in front of him. He honed his senses to focus right at its center. Strength poured outwards into his legs and shoulders. With only a thought, his blade, Earthshaker, sparkled into existence in his right hand as he took a solid step backwards with his left foot. Crossing the blade to the other side of his body, he poised in a sort of lunge.

_Ready._

Without any noise, Terra phazed forward, crossing the distance between him and the post within milliseconds. Earthshaker swung with the boy’s arm upwards, Its sleek yet durable shape driven through the open air as smoothly as a sharp knife through butter. There was a strange sort of suppressed pop noise as Terra ended his strike on the other side of the wooden target.

Standing up firm, the boy smirked.

Olette watched speechless as the post she had been striving to make meer gashes in all evening fell to the ground, sliced completely through by an upwards diagonal cut.

“Woah.” She said a bit awestruck as her teacher turned and began walking back over to her. “That was cool.”

Terra wouldn’t deny that that was indeed rather fun. It wasn’t often he got the chance or the urge to show off slicing something with that much power.

“Practice. Learn your best method of fighting and build on it.” He replied with a chuckle as he reached her side once more. “Never keep yourself locked in one pattern though. Always try to expand your skills to fully become a well rounded Keyblade wielder.”

“Wise words indeed, Terra.” A deep voice intruded from behind the duo. “Although your example might have been a bit excessive.”

“Master!” The boy exclaimed in surprise as he and Olette turned to face the approaching man before both took a deep bow.

“My apologies for interrupting your practice.” The Master stated, giving his students a polite bow in return.

“Not at all. It’s no imposition” Terra replied, lifting his head and willing his keyblade away.

“I simply came to ask a favor of you, Terra.” The older man continued calmly. “I would like you to come to my quarters after you have finished teaching your student here this evening. There is an important matter I wish to discuss with you.”

A small notch hitched in the brown haired boy’s throat.

“Of course, Master.” Terra nodded a bit apprehensively, hopping his inner worries hadn’t just slipped out in his tone. If it had, the older man didn’t seem to pick up on it.

“Good, I will expect you later on then.” The Master concluded with satisfaction, bowing once more to each of his students before turning to walk towards the hallway.

“Should we end for the night?” Olette asked once their superior had completely exited the room, noticing her tutors concerned expression.

Terra sighed heavily, the lump in his throat still undeniably present.

He should have guessed this was going to happen. It had already been three days since Axel and his little fun time in the showers and while most of their friends knew how to keep their mouths shut, there were others…

Looking up at the clock on the wall opposite from him, Terra noted the time.

“It’s still early, I wouldn’t want you to have stayed past normal practice hours for nothing.”

“It’s fine.” The female assured. “I could use the chance to get some extra laundry done anyways. I’m a bit behind at the moment, to be honest.”

Terra smiled. Olette was always adorably responsible and carefree at the same time. She genuinely reminded him of someone.

To be more specific, some girl.

“Well, I suppose we can call it a night then.”

With leisurely movements, the two cleaned up the hall, put away the training posts, disposed of the broken one, and then grabbed up their belongings off the smooth wooden floor to walk side by side out to the Dojo’s encompassing hallway.

“Be careful on your way home.” Terra expressed as the time came for the two to part ways.

“You too. See you tomorrow!” Olette replied with a rather giddy tone before scurrying off in the opposite direction of where her tutor now needed to head.

_And now..._

The brunette released yet another sigh as he stared down the hall towards the back of the Dojo.

_Well…_

“Damn it all.”

 

❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄.

 

“Master?” Terra called as he reached the top of the stairs that connected the man's dojo to his home.

“Come in, Terra.” The deep voice of the older man beckoned him straight forwards and into an open room with a low table at its center.

Unlike the last time he was here, the whole area was well lit with warm white light bulbs. He could now see and appreciate that the surroundings were tastefully, albeit a bit sparsely, decorated, but almost with a simplistic sense. To be sure though, it was certainly cozzy.

“Pardon my intrusion.” the boy replied as he crossed the threshold into the parlor, his superior already seated comfortably on a cushion at the table’s side.

“I invited you here, Terra.” The man assured through a chuckled, motioning for his guest to have a seat across from him.

“It is no intrusion.” He continued almost as though playfully mocking the boy and his earlier words when the Master had approached both he and Olette.

Terra’s stomach churned just as it had all the way up the stairs as the brunette seated himself properly. While he may have had no real proof that the Master had asked him here simply to interrogate him, still… what other reason could he have wanted to see him so privately?

“Care to share a drink with me?” The Master offered pleasantly.

“Thank you, yes…”

Words were becoming a bit harder to conjure. The older man didn’t seem upset, which Terra supposed was a good sign but, to his recollection, he hadn’t seemed extraordinarily upset that morning after him and his fiery partner had first slept together there in the Master’s spare bedroom either…

...And it had taken more than a few apologies and a rather lengthy explanation from Axel before the man had released the duo back out into the world unscathed. _That_ he recalled quite well. After all, Terra had never been quite so terrified in his life.

“I see that Olette has been benefiting greatly from your guidance thus far.” The Master commented as he stood, walking slowly over to a small cabinet in the room’s corner and grabbing out a couple small porcelain cups and a sealed glass bottle.

“She has a good head about her.” The brunette agreed honestly.

“Indeed. And you as well,Terra. Your diligence with your own training has done you quite well.” He continued, sitting back down and opening the drink with a couple twists of the cap. “I’ve noticed your skills and technique is nearing excellent now.”

“I owe much of my growth to you and your apprentices, Master.” Terra smiled meekly at the praise while being handed a near overflowing cup of clear liquid. “It’s been more than an honor to train here.”

“Modest to the end, aren’t you.” The older man cackled, sipping on his own filled cup.

And... silence. To the brunette’s disappointment, the eerie sensation of pleasant filler conversation wasn’t being exorcised by the alcohol now flowing through his system. If only he could bring himself to simply apologize for him and Axel having sex there the other day before the man even brought it to the forefront... Any more casual dialog was sure to end him right then and there.

“Tell me, have you had a chance to go outside at all this evening?” The man asked after finishing his cup and pouring for himself a refill.

“No, I can’t say I have.”

More filler. The torture…

“Care to take a stroll through my garden then?.”

Terra’s face perked, his eyebrows rising at the man’s proposal.

“I… Am guessing Axel showed you my garden the last time you and he were here?” The Master continued when his student remained silently stunned.

“Yes, he-” The brunette blurted forth hastily in memory of his previous look at the man’s “back yard”, though catching himself just in time before he completely lost all composure. “He did show me from the deck just outside the room that night.”

“How about we discuss matters in the pagoda then?”

If it was possible, Terra was sure his eyes would be gleaming.

Leaving their drinks behind, the duo stood up, the brunettes fear subsiding almost instantly as his master walked over to the closed screen in the room and slid it open. For the second time in his life the brunette filled his lungs with air from the man's bliss touched garden. It was near euphoric. The sound of a relaxed sigh left his mouth as he followed the Master out to the deck and then down a small set of stairs to where his bare feet for the first time felt the smoothed stones of the garden’s windy path. To see everything up close, to be able to even graze his hand across the drooping leavings of the blossoming willow or the amber bushes if he so chose, it was making him utterly giddy inside.

Seemingly everything around him either glowed or sparkled in some form or another; even the stream, as Terra came to realize as the pair crossed a bridge over top of it. Looking down into the pure crystal water, the brunette realized that what was actually glowing was the numerous fish that were swimming ever so gracefully through it. So many colors; blues, yellows, reds, silvers. And so many types and sizes of them, dancing through the liquid as though it was air.

“Captivating aren’t they?” The older man mentioned as he waited for his student to finally complete crossing the wooden platform to the other side.

“It all is, Master.”

His teacher chuckled, as they turned to continue walking towards the structure at the center of the garden.

“This place is rarely one I show to anyone other than my fellow Keyblade Masters or Apprentices. It is designed for meditation, an area to relax the mind, to let one wander safely and contently away from the stresses of life.”

Terra tried his hardest to listen to his superior, but was finding the flickering of fireflies just off to the side of him to be rather distracting.

_Wait…_

“If I may ask, how then did Axel find this place?”

The man stopped, turned, and gave Terra a look of sarcasm that was certainly not expected from someone of his age and authority. The brunette sighed and shook his head. Did he really even have to ask?

“Your partner is a shrewd one. It is more than a wonder why I myself have let him get away with as many things as he has since joining this Dojo.”

“I doubt he even appreciates this place for its beauty as he should.” Terra noted with an annoyed tone.

“I doubt it as well.” The pair chuckled in unison as they both thought of the redhead; the arrogant punk.

Finally reaching the set of stairs to the pagoda, Terra took in it’s daunting frame. It had looked so much smaller from farther away. It’s poles were at least twenty feet high from the structures floor and to the tip of its second tier’s ceiling, at least another thirty or forty. Carvings covered the frame, painted a barely darker color than the main to add captivating definition and importance.

“Tell me something. Does Eraqus have a place like this? Or did he make a ‘rock garden’ as he said he was going to for so many years?” The Master inquired, releasing a hearty snicker at the end.

The brunette paused mid-step at the mention of his former master’s name, the action nearly sending him slipping on the stairs he was attempting to climb.

“You know Master Eraqus?” He asked in surprise once safely reaching the pagoda's platform.

“Of course. There were far fewer dojos and masters in past decades. Most all of us who are masters now trained together at some point in time.” The man responded calmly, guiding Terra forward towards the buildings center.

“I suppose so... And yes, he made a rock garden for his own and his student’s meditation at the Dojo. It was part of his normal routine to have us all sit for an hour or two of contemplation at the beginning of practice some days. This place reminds me of it, to be sure.”

Something struck the boy as odd as he thought back to his previous life for a moment.

“Forgive me, but I am a bit surprised considering that Master Eraqus never mentioned you even when I told him of my being scouted for this dojo.”

“Eraqus and I,” The Master paused as though considering his words well before speaking them, “we never fully saw eye to eye on many things. He was also my senior, so our contact was minimal at most. From what I recall though, he was stubborn to a fault, inflexible, and greatly opinionated. Qualities I sometimes found rather…irritating.”

Terra stood a bit thoughtful now. The older man was describing his former master to a tee.

“Even when many of the master’s formed their dojo’s with the intent on bringing in keyblade wielders from across the known worlds, Eraqus declined saying that it was far better for students to train solely on their own world, and that only masters and apprentices should be given the right to travel the cosmos.” He continued.

Yep. That was Master Eraqus alright. The man was indeed harsh, obstinate and possibly brutal at times but he had carved into Terra the results and possibilities that hard work and dedication could bring. Still... he did remember that the master had not been pleased when he had told him of his decision to leave. His eyes had become even more icy cold than usual that afternoon. Nonetheless, he had given the brunette his approval and even a well wish on the day he left his home world for this one.

“However.”

Terra’s face looked up from the floor he had inadvertently been staring at as the older man began to speak again.

“He is certainly someone worthy of my respect. A beyond skillful keybearer. And, if you are any proof, an excellent teacher as well.”

A bashful smile crept over the younger’s boy face, his cheeks warmed by the compliment to both him and his former master.

“Which brings me back to what I originally asked you here for.”

_Finally…_ Terra thought with relief. No offense to the Master of course, but after all this build up he truly just wanted to get everything out into the open.

“Terra, your skills have become most impressive over the time you have been here and your willingness to personally train Olette has not gone unnoticed by my own or the Keyblade Council’s eyes.”

Something in the boy’s chest tightened at hearing that he had caught the attention of the Keyblade Council, and rightfully so. To be noticed by them was…

“Which is why it is my honor to inform you that the members of the Council have deemed you worthy of becoming a Keyblade Apprentice.”

Terra’s heart skipped a beat.

**Keyblade Apprentice** … A title given from the Council to one who is to be trained to become a future master. To say that the chances to be chosen as one was slim was more than an understatement. The council had to unanimously agree on a candidate, and it could be any keybearer from across the known worlds.

“Master… I’m honored, but…” The brunette stammered, trying his best to wrap his mind around what he had just been told. “I’ve only been here just over a year now. In comparison to some of the other stu-”

“ _ **In comparison**_ , you stand right next to them, Terra.” The man interrupted. “How many years you have trained is not as important as whether or not you show the qualities one must bear to begin the road that leads to becoming a master. Your constant dedication to the art, your respect of your superiors and comrades, as well as the patience to train and the guidance you’ve gifted upon Olette, these things are why you have been chosen.”

Terra stared dumbfounded at no definitive point, his mind racing.

“And I can see in your eyes,” The Master continued, “teaching Olette makes you very happy.”

“Still… There are others, even Axel-” The breath in Terras throat halted as he said his partner's name aloud.

_Axel._ He had been a student there for nearly five years now, was considered to be one of the best warriors in the dojo, and…

_Dear Kingdom Hearts. What will he think about this?_

“Axel,” The Masters deep voice said, calling him back from his sudden descent into terror, “Is a warrior of great caliber. No one would disagree on that. However, a warrior is all he wishes to be. You, more than anyone, know this. Don’t you, Terra?”

“I…” Terra closed his eyes, confused by all the thoughts that flowed through him.

“The council has also decided to offer a few of the students, including Axel, the opportunity to join The Watch. And I agree with the other members that the selected students talents will be put to best use by these promotions. Axel will do very well as a guardian of this or any other world.”

“And me?” Terra asked raising his head so his gaze met the Master’s. “Where would I go if I accepted?”

“You would have pick of any dojo across the known worlds whose master would be willing to accept you. I personally would be willing to take you here as one of my apprentices, but bear in mind that you could even return to your home world if you so wished.”

The older man chuckled a bit.

“I have no doubt that with a little persuasion, even someone as stubborn as Eraqus would accept you back.”

Terra forced a smile at the Master’s words. But somehow it all seemed rather wrong. It had only been a year, one year since he had left home. He had gained friends, a boyfriend, a protege of sorts, and a life he would even call comfortable. Everything was seeming to flow nicely. Training was his world, and there were no important responsibilities unless you called keeping Axel happy and satisfied a responsibility, which Terra certainly did.

But... his Keyblade was his honor. He wanted to fight, to stave away darkness just as his father had before him. To be a Keyblade Apprentice meant that you were considered to be one of the strongest bearers in all the known worlds. And above all else... Terra wanted to be strong.

“There is no need to decide now, Terra. Think on it for a while.”

The brunette nodded in agreement, taking a solid inhale into his lungs.

“Come, this place is not meant for heavy thoughts.” The master said stepping forward and placing a firm hand on the boys shoulder. “You should go home now. I am sure you could use some extra rest.”

Terra wouldn’t disagree with the man. The allure of the garden had suddenly grown quite dull with all these thoughts rattling through his mind. It would be better to leave. Silently, side by side, the two descended down the pagodas steps to begin their trek back through the stone paved garden.

“I hope you will forgive me, Terra. I seem to have placed a heavy burden on you.”

“There is no need to ask for my forgiveness, Master.” The brunette assured taking a deep breath in and steadying his gaze forward. “I am simply a bit overwhelmed by all of this.”

“As I can tell. I hear though that you are using your vacation next week as a chance to take a trip back to your home world.”

“Yes. Axel and I will be leaving the day after tomorrow.”

“I see.” The master nodded, brushing his hand over a flowering bush as they walked past it. “Take the time to relax then and unburden yourself from any troubles. I am sure your mother would not wish to see you so sullen as you are now.”

“No,” Terra lightly smiled, the image of his mother popping into his head. “No, she wouldn’t”

“Do give Eraqus my regards as well when you see him.”

“I shall, Master.” He replied, pulling his heart up at least a bit from its sunken spot in his chest.

“One last thing I must speak to you about, Terra.” The man spoke with a more serious tone as the two reached the porch of his home. “It is a matter rather serious and one I am not happy to bring to light. A rumor has reached my ears of an alarming nature.”

_Oh no…_

“While I have never expressed anything but support for your relationship with Axel, I believe a line has been once again crossed. Do you know of what I speak?”

“I am deeply sorry, Master.” Terra replied quickly, bowing his head before the man to hopefully soften some of the Masters stern emotion towards him and to also hide his shame.

“While I am fairly sure I know which one of you instigated the incident, you nonetheless most certainly played a vital part and for that I am holding you equally accountable.”

“Yes, Master.”

“I forgave you two the first time this occurred here in my dojo and I will forgive you both for this time as well, but,” The older man paused as though to enforce that his words were not to be taken lightly, “this is never to happen again. Understood?”

“Absolutely.” The brunette breathed a sigh of embarrassed relief as he answered his master.

“Good. That is enough bowing now, Terra.” The master instructed, his tone obviously softer now.

After one more deep inhale, the brunette pulled himself back up and stood firm. He was truly ashamed for what had happened, perhaps even more ashamed for disappointing the master. But If the man could forgive him, then his word was his bond; he would never allow such an occurrence to happen again. Even if it meant defying that red headed punk.

“You love Axel. Don’t you?”

Terra’s eyes grew wide by the strange question from the man before him. From the serious look on his master’s face though, he wanted a truthful answer.

“Yes… I do love him.”

The Master looked pleased as the boy finished.

“I have never known the feeling of falling in love, but I have watched it from afar more times than I can count.” The older man regaled, gazing back out towards his garden. “You are willing to accept punishment for the faults of the one you care about; it is honorable.”

“As you said though Master, I played a part as well, and for that I am willing to accept the responsibility for our actions.”

The older man chuckled.

“May I impart some wisdom upon you, Terra?”

“Of course.” the boy's tone almost becoming upbeat at the offer. “I would be very grateful for it.”

 

“Then take this as you will. Do not hold yourself back for love’s sake. If you are willing to sacrifice for love, love should be willing to sacrifice for you.”

Terra stood still for a moment, letting the man's words penetrate his thoughts. He knew what he was trying to say. He knew very well.

“You should return home now, you look tired.”

“Thank you, Master.” The brunette spoke, giving the man one final bow before turning to exit the man's home.

Terra was indeed tired. He realized that more now than ever as he trudged down the steps of the man’s house. With a heavy mind he continued a silent pace through the halls of the Dojo, through the outside gate and onwards onto the path that led out towards the world’s main town.

Terra wanted to go home, to his own room, to lie on his own bed, to sleep the day away and awake to a brand new one, fresh with possibilities. Deep in his chest, he felt that word tearing him to sheds. Home.

He wanted so badly...

 

❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄.

 

“Boring.” Axel openly vocalized with a sigh as he flipped to yet another channel on the TV set.

It was only just passed ten and he was already fed up with all the late night comedy shows. They just weren’t as funny anymore. No one was getting surprised, or hurt, or even locked in a fake haunted house. It was all just a bunch of stupid satire and old timey jokes now.

_Boring..._

A chocolate covered wafer the fiery boy held between his teeth snapped with a little bit of pressure from his jaw, the part that hadn't been in his mouth toppling helplessly to the carpeted floor below him. Axel’s green eyes stared pouting at the fallen sweet.

“Well, that's a waste.”

Click. Click.

If Axel had ears he was sure they would have just risen to a point with his mood as he heard the sound of a key in his apartment door.

“Terra!” The redhead shouted to the room as though he wanted the furniture to make itself presentable for the impending arrival of his brown haired partner. Bouncing off the couch, and completely forgetting about his fallen treat, Axel walked merrily to the front entryway.

“Hey!” The fiery boy exclaimed as he turned the corner to find his lover already through the front door and only a few paces away.

“Hey.” The blue eyed brunette replied warmly as he walked forwards towards his partner.

“You’re here early tonight.” Axel mentioned as Terra passed him by to to set his training bag down on the living room floor. “Not that I’m complaining.”

The boy’s lips produced a snicker as he watched his partner remove the bag from his shoulders and then lean down to open it and pull out his empty water bottle.

“Olette and I were both pretty out of it today so we called it an early night.”

“Hmmm…” The redhead murmured still watching the back of his partner's head.

Something seemed a bit off.

Sure, Terra was normally this melotone and serious but there was something else about the boy that Axel couldn't quite figure out. His tone, it was… melodic, thoughtful, and maybe slightly tender. Even his stance, it was calmer yet unabashed, as though there was no stress or worry in the world for him.

“What is it?” The brunette inquired when he had turned around to find the fiery boy staring at him quite intently.

“You okay?” Axel asked outright.

“Fine. Why?” The boy answered without even slightly wavering.

“No reason. Just,” Feet moved forward to close the gap between them, Axel’s cheeks feeling flushed as he stared at his partner's calm countenance. “You’re eyes are glowing.”

Terra smiled, and so did Axel. Reaching around the brown haired boy's waist, the two kissed. A solid and mesmerizing contact. From experience, Axel knew that a person could hide their feelings during sex, but in just a kiss, to him there was no lying. And in this one, he knew the truth. Terra was in love with him, through and through.

Both sets of eyes soundlessly shut, lips moving to massage the others, the noise of some mind numbing television program in the background; harmonious and deffining. Fingers kneaded gently into clothing from both boy’s grasp on the other, it was their normal desirous way of showing just how much they missed each other, even if it had only been a few hours since their last encounter.

“Axel?” The brown haired boy’s sensual voice broke even as the two’s lips held contact.

“Hmm?”

“Were you eating chocolate?”

The redhead chuckled.

“I may have been snacking on some wafers earlier.” Axel grinned mischievously. “Or maybe my kisses are just natural sweet to you.”

_Shit..._

That was a horribly bad joke and Terra obviously knew it too as the brunette busted out with a small fit of laughter.

“Really now?!”

The fiery boy shrugged. He had said it, he might as well own it. Besides, Terra laughing in complete contentment wasn't something he got to see very often. It was surprisingly beautiful.

The brunette moved barely inwards to meet their lips once more. Their passion mixed perfectly with their heaves of laughter before Terra moved his mouth to purposefully lick at the corner of the redheads lip.

“What was that?” Axel asked with a giddy surprise.

“You still had chocolate in the corner of your mouth.”

“Oh?” The redhead played bringing his arms upwards to his partner's shoulders. “You know… I may have some chocolate a little lower on my body that could use the caring removal of your lips and tongue.”

“Not tonight, Axel.”

The boy's body sank suddenly. His hopes as well as his mood dashed and thrown to the wayside.

“Why not?” He whined, scrunching his face into pout.

“I’m tired, and I have a long day tomorrow.” Terra replied calmly as he puckered his lips to one last quick meeting with his partners before he began sliding out of their shared embrace.

Axel scoffed as his arms fell swinging to his sides once his partner had moved too far away to hold on to anymore.

“We just have practice tomorrow! What makes that a long day?”

“I still have to go back to my place and pack once training is done.”

_Oh right... Packing._

A thought popped into Axel’s head. His eyes gleamed once more as he began following his partner towards the bedroom.

“You know, if you had moved in here over a month ago when I first asked you to, we would just come home from the Dojo together tomorrow, finish packing, and probably still have time for some extra… fun stuff too.” The boy finished, leaning on the room’s doorway as he watched the brunette begin removing his shirt.

“Axel, I’m tired.” Terra nearly pleaded. “Can we go to bed now?”

“Alright, alright.” the redhead finally relented. He may not have gotten the blowjob he wanted but the strip show in front of him would sate his animal desires at least for tonight. “So the Master called me up to his office earlier.”

“Ohh?” Terra replied with an obviously peeked interest, though not bothering to look around at the redhead as he spoke.

“He wanted to talk about our little water playdate the other day.” Axel teased in an uncouth manner, chuckling a bit as he spoke.

“The master called me up to see him too earlier.”

“Ohh?” Axel responded with surprise this time, swinging himself into the room from the doorframe. “I’m guessing he gave you a final warning as well?”

Terra turned to face him. The look on his face was clear.

“Come on, Terra.” Axel groaned, sensing the reprimanding tone that his partner bore. “It was fun.”

The brunette’s eyebrows lifted, his lips still locked shut.

“Next time I’ll make sure we don’t get caught.”

“You’re an asshole.”

Axel smiled as his green eyes gazed at his partner. Terra wasn’t mad at him, perhaps a bit unappreciative by the fact that he was made to face the Master about such an unpleasant subject, but that glow he was wearing from earlier was still there. That smile was still there; that softness in his frame.

Terra strode towards him a tad, reaching his hands to the redheads face and pulling him in for one more soft kiss.

“Let’s go to bed now. Okay?”

The couple undressed down to just their pants and then began the nightly routine of shutting off the TV and any other lights that were on in the apartment. Darkness finally achieved, they snuggled into the warmth of a large bed, the redhead taking his normal position near the wall with his partner right behind him.

Terra was happy, Axel was sure of it. The heaviness of a blanket surrounding them both, the redhead wiggled his way close to the boy’s back to whisper a soft goodnight before laying a kiss against his bare shoulder blade. The gesture was repaid in turn as Terra’s voice released the same word back to him.

It was an early night, a quiet night for a change but the hours ticked away at the same speed they always did. Time couldn’t slow down for such a moment, but the duo’s breathing could which made the rest of the world feel just as slow. There was no noise around them, save for their breaths and heartbeats. There was no discomfort in the soft bed warmed gently by their body heat. And there were no lights shining to disturb the nights simplistic beacon of slumber. Not a one, save for the glowing smoke blue irises of Terra’s open eyes as the night droned on, hour by hour. The redhead lay behind him, fast asleep, heaving into what the brunette was sure was a pleasant dream.

He couldn’t tell him. No. He just couldn’t.

From the Master’s house he had walked silent and conflicted. Worrying about a future he now had to decide. They had pained him, his Master’s kind words; all of them. He had wondered what reaction Axel would give him at the news. His worst fears sparkling to life in his mind as the image of the redhead dripped in insincere enthusiasm or worse, anger commanded his thoughts. Axel always found a way to get what he wanted, even from him. What if becoming a Keyblade Apprentice was something the redhead didn’t want for him. Would Axel respect him after he was promoted?

Would Axel really sacrifice for him? Probably not, Terra thought after mulling it around in his head. After all, Axel hated losing. Axel **_hated_** losing.

And maybe worst of all... Axel might feel that he was losing him.

What if… what if this was it?

Terra stood numbly at the entrance to the redhead’s apartment complex, gazing up at his partner's front door.

“You love Axel. Don’t you?” The master’s words rang through his head suddenly.

_I love him._

_So just let go. Just for now._

With calm resolution, Terra turned the key to his partner's apartment and walked through his front door. He had gazed into his lovers glorious green eyes, and had kissed and held him with absolute undeniable surrender.

But his heart had been sinking.

Terra turned over in the bed to gaze at his slumbering partner’s face. He swallowed back hard, his chest tight from exhaustion. No, he wouldn’t ruin their trip with this news. He knew all too well he would regret this later but he wouldn’t regret the sweet moment they had shared in each other's arms.

Just as he told the Master, he could take responsibility for both of their faults.

He could carry this burden. He _would_ carry this burden,

until he could surrender no more.

 

❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one down! Thank you again for reading. Kudos and constructive comments are always appreciated so please feel free to let me know how you feel about this work thus far. 
> 
> -From Cyprus  
> With Love. ❄


	3. Chapter 3

Gummi ships didn’t make much noise as they traversed the cosmos, thank Kingdom Hearts. The pleasant hum of the engine was equally as soothing as the surprising room that the ship held for all passengers on board. It wasn't luxury, but it was roomy enough for people, even ones that may have been slightly claustrophobic, to feel unburden as from their seats they could peer out through the windows at the colorful, star-covered galaxy that was the Passage Between Worlds.

That being said…

“You excited?”

“Why do you keep asking me that?” Terra groaned at his partner sitting across from him. “Just as I told you the last four times: YES! I’m excited!”

Axel snickered childishly. Damn asshole was doing it on purpose, he just knew it. Two hours in on a five hour flight and the redhead already had him nearly screaming to be allowed to jump out into the strange atmosphere that surrounded them, nevermind if he could survive in it or not.

“So, what's the weather like on your world?” Axel prodded after hardly any moment at all of silence.

“Normally nice?” Terra replied scrunching his eyebrows to convey his curiosity at the odd question.

“How about the city? How big is it in comparison to ours?”

“About a third of the size.” He replied with a sigh this time.

“Your old master was super strict and controlling, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Eeww…” It was Axel’s turn to scrunch up his face. “He’s not gonna like me. Will he?”

Terra shrugged defeatedly, turning his head towards the window in hopes that something more interesting would catch his eye. He had expected Axel to have a few inquiries into the world he had been born on but it felt as though every few seconds the boy was asking another one. The only break so far that Terra had had was when Axel pulled out a bag of snacks he apparently purchased to munch on while on his way to meet the brunette that morning.

How interesting could his home world even be to the redhead anyways? It was smaller, calmer, a place where seemingly everyone knew everyone. The dojo had maybe an eighth of the students and was about a fourth of the size of their current one; only one large enclosed training hall and then some outdoor practice areas. Nothing fancy.

The brunette sighed heavily. One year. A little longer actually, since he had walked on the stone roads that lined his old city’s streets. In the summer, the sun beat down on them till there was a heat haze radiating off the stone work like a mirage.

He remembered those summers so well. Practicing outside in the blistering heat by Master Eraqus’ orders and then taking trips down to the river with his comrades after class was over. They would all enjoy the cool touch of flowing water till near dusk. Then he, Aqua, and Ventus would head back up to the dojo to climb the slope that led to the outdoor sparring arena. All three would sit side by side on the edge of the green grove that seemingly overlooked the rest of their world, watching in a peaceful yet tired silence as the stars slowly brightened with the disappearance of each orange summer sunset.

Another more supressed sigh escaped his lips. Terra missed those days. Who wouldn’t after all?

The more time had passed since his leaving, the harder it had been to keep good contact with his mother and his friends. He always told them how rigorous the practice sessions were when he did write so he doubted that they would hold his lack of correspondence against him. Terra wasn't big on divulging the personal events of every moment of every day anyways. And he certainly wasn't going to write about his intimacies with a certain someone.

“Isn’t your home world having a big festival soon? Anything fun to do there?”

The boy growled, his mind pulled rudely from his nostalgic trip back to the quieter days of… well before he met the loud mouth sitting across from him.

“Axel, what’s with all the questions?”

The redhead laughed warmly as the brunette looked back over to meet his partner’s gaze.

“I just want a good idea of what I’m getting into.” He answered, leaning back into his chair in a most relaxed manner; arms laid out upon the seats armrests as though he was a king. “After all, It’s not everyday I get exposed as your dirty little secret.”

Smokey blue eyes widened.

“Well I’d say I’m definitely dirty but we both know I’m not little.” The redhead continued with a sarcastic grin.

_How…?_

“You knew?” Terra asked in a slightly hushed tone as though embarrassed that the other passengers might hear.

“Course I knew! You should have seen yourself this morning when we met up. You were as fidgety and nervous as the day we went out on our first date!” Axel answered teasingly.

The brunette averted his gaze to just off of his partner's frame. It was true. He had been trying to hold in his anxiousness about the matter all morning. Even when waiting at the entrance to the Docking Station for the redhead to arrive, one of the attendants working there had asked him if he was feeling okay. Hiding his anxiety was apparently something Terra wasn’t always very good at, especially first thing in the morning.

“I’ve mentioned you in my letters to my mother.” the boy started, feeling a tad tight in his throat. “But I never told her that we were dating.”

Devious lips curled upwards, Axel contorted himself to pull a leg up onto his chair and lean his chin down on his left arm. The boy’s green irises gleamed at him as though amusingly unimpressed by Terra’s occasional lack of a spine.

“She knows you’re coming on this trip with me, though.”

The fiery boy busted out laughing, much to Terra’s surprise.

“Don’t look so down, will you? It’s fine! I like surprises! Even better when I’m the surprise.” There was a strange beam of light glowing from those green eyes that on occasion could scare even Terra.

_Kingdom Hearts save me._

“Only you would find it fun to surprise your friends and family with a boyfriend you’ve never spoken about.”

Laughter turned to chuckles as Axel quieted himself down to not anger the brunette with his obvious lack of sympathy for his plight.

“You’re not ashamed of me, right?” The redhead asked as he leaned forward and stared Terra down with a sadistic passion.

“No.” Terra replied with resolution, meeting his partners fiery gaze. “I wouldn’t be taking you on this trip with me if I was.”

“So then, what's to worry about?”

_Everything you asshole…_

The brunette sighed loudly.

_But… Can’t do anything about it now..._

“Nothing, I guess.”

“See? So relax!” Axel assured, leaning back into his chair again, only this time with his fingers crossed up behind his head as though he was some cheeky teenage schoolboy. “Besides, I’ll be by your side the whole time.”

Out of all the words that the redhead had said to him, he supposed those last ones were the most comforting. Terra’s old friends were kind and understanding, Aqua especially. And his mother was always supportive of him, so there really was no real reason to fear. And… Axel would be by his side. What more could he really need or want on this vacation.

“I wonder if Transport Gummies ever get attacked on their way to other words.”

Smokey blue eyes blinked.

“What?”

“Wouldn’t that be a cool icebreaker to tell your mom when we dock?! We were on our way to your home world and our ship got attacked by a giant Heartless! All she would really care about is that her little baby and his strong protective boyfriend made it there safely.” Axel enthusiastically said back to his dumbfounded partner. “I mean this ship does have guns on it. I saw them when we were boarding.”

Terra pinched his nose.

_Asshole..._

❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄.

 

Time.

He thought he had had so much of it. What he wouldn't give right now for just a little bit more. Even the wisest men alive had said upon their dying breaths that years go by before you even realize it.

Time was gone. Time was here. And it was also approaching him so fast. Time changed things sure, but some things… some things he never wanted to change.

This tight anxious feeling in his chest though, that could change. But how glorious the sun looked outside that day, making the stone walkways glisten as white as snow, _that_ he wished would never change.

Time. Hours. Minutes. Even seconds.

It was all wonderfully thrilling.

“Ventus! Hurry up! Terra’s ship is going to be here any minute!”

Time.

_Damn it._

“I’ll be right down!” The blonde haired boy yelled out the open door of his bedroom.

That's right. He had lost track of time. He had gone to the training hall early with Aqua that morning even though they was no scheduled practice that day, sparred for a bit, and then they had both left the dojo to return to their own homes to change. But somewhere in the mix of showering, drying and styling his hair, and picking out an outfit, time had slipped right between his fingers.

Ventus checked himself in the mirror again, it had taken him twice as long as he expected to pick out what to wear. Clothes were thrown everywhere around his room. On the bed, across his dresser, he even had his second choice of socks sitting atop his nightstand if the ones he originally pulled out to wear didn’t match with the rest of his outfit. Whatever he ended up wearing, it had to be something new, something Terra hadn't seen before. After all, who wears the same clothes from a year back to a reunion as important as this one?

“Ventus!” The female voice yelled again, this time with a sort of motherly aggression that told the boy if he didn't finish getting ready soon, he was going to be grounded.

_Ready?_

Ventus took in a deep inhale and posed in front of a mirror. Normally everyone in the town saw him in his training uniform, but today… today he was Ventus; sharp, streetwise, chill punk who was normally kind and easy to talk to but also someone you didn't want to mess with unless you wanted a swift kick to the face. Hair was perfectly styled, not a strand out of place. His clothes were matched to a tee, right down to his shoes (and socks of course). He was so nervously happy in that moment that he felt like laughing for no damn reason. One last check of his reflection and he was good to go. His smile wasn't getting any bigger after all.

_Ready._

“About time.” Aqua chastised as the boy thundered down the stairs, jumping from a few steps up to land perfectly on the landing in front of where the blue haired female had been waiting for the past ten minutes.

“Then let’s go!” Brilliant sky blue eyes beamed with excitement as the boy pushed passed his friend without even a “hello” to open the front door. “Come’on! I’ll race you!”

Bursting out into the open air Ventus caught himself gazing upwards into the nearly cloudless atmosphere above him, his eyes squinting while adjusting to the brightness of the day.

It all felt so new.

Aqua shuffled quickly out the door behind him and shook her head.

“Well?” She asked towards her halted comrade, his previous statement confusing her as to why he was standing still and not bolting down the road already.

The boy leaned his head back to gaze at her, smiling his grand reply.

Ventus was fast. The fastest and most agile student at their dojo, and he loved showing it off. A good twenty feet ahead of the girl he ran, scurrying down the pathways towards the center of town, weaving his way nimbly past other town’s folk as they simply and boringly walked towards their destination. The air that filled his lungs was crisp and dry. Still, the sun beat down with such pressure that a normal person would think well to evade it all together, but not Ventus. Not even the heat of the hottest desert could stop him right now. Down a street, then another, just three more turns till he was almost to the bridge that crossed above the city’s river.

“No...” Ventus murmured to himself as he turned the final corner before the bridge, suddenly hearing a whizzing noise in the sky above him.

Changing had taken up too much time.

The boy’s feet scuttled to a halt on the stone platform above the seemingly bottomless water below him. The blonde, barely panting, stood slightly disappointed as he peered upwards just in time to see a gummi ship shooting its way towards the Docking Station. It had to be his ship… or to be more exact, the ship that _he_ was on.

Terra. His first friend, his first comrade, and the person that he had missed being around more than anyone in all the worlds.

“Well?” A pat on his shoulder pulled Ventus’ gaze away from the sky and back towards his out of breath friend that had finally caught up with him.

“Better late than never. Right?” Aqua reassured with a smile before passing the boy up and continuing her labored jog towards the other side of town.

“Right.” The blonde admitted with reserve. Just one more gaze up at the ship that scared a white path across the brilliant azure sky above him, that was all his heart needed. The world just looked too beautiful that day.

Strangely contented, Ventus walked to the other side of the pearl white bridge. Aqua hadn’t gotten very far ahead of him yet and he could catch up to her easily, after all. Breaking back into a run, Ventus steeled himself. He would be there to greet his friend. Even if he had to spend a lifetime running through the depths of darkness itself to meet him.

 

❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄.

 

“Fheww, finally!” Axel groaned as the duo stepped off the ladder leading off of the ship and once again back onto solid terra firma. “I thought we were going to be on that ship forever.”

“You did…!?” Terra murmured to himself in aggravated exhaustion as he shuffled past his partner and towards the side of the ship to where a man was unloading the passenger's luggage. The last three hours of the flight had been just as exhausting as the first two.

_Do you ever shut up?!_ The brunette had screamed internally to himself around hour four when the redhead started asking about who would be fun to spar with from his old dojo. Deep elongated breaths of air were the only consolation for his nerves right now.

A breeze blowing in from white tipped northern mountains cooled the neutral body temperature of the brunette even as the sun beat down on his skin. Back on the airship though, he swore that his blood had turned to ice from anxiousness when the captain announced they were about to enter his home world’s atmosphere. He could even still feel his heartbeat pumping blood into his tingling fingertips.

It was a warm day, even with the brief occasional wind. It looked like the kind of day he remembered best in his mind; mostly blue skies, a hot day of summer sweat and bliss. The smell of his home town wasn’t strong or obtrusive, not like the other world they had just left. That place normally smelled of people, food, and strong smokey warehouses. But here he remembered it smelled more like nature and sun stroked streets wafting off the subtle odors left by many years of constant use. There weren’t enough people living here in his hometown to heavily pollute the air anyways.

Terra slowed his pace for a moment as he neared the small line of people that had formed to grab their belongings. One deep breath out and his previous agitation and tiredness seemed to melt away.

Just for a moment, the brunette felt weightless.

He was home.

“You okay?” He heard his partner ask beside him.

“It’s... almost strange.” Terra admitted softly.

“Being back?” The question was followed by a light chuckle.

“Yeah.”

The boy loosed a smile which had been an almost extinct expression on his face on the trip thus far. There was so much he wanted to do again, so many sights and people he wanted to see in the few days they had here. The town festival was of sorts a main attraction for coming back but there was still so much more. Terra wanted to use this as a time of rest from his normally hectic calendar, and, just as the Master had suggested, as a time to think some things through.

He couldn’t help but take it all in, everything he could see around him. The amount of people that traveled the worlds, and especially to this world, were few, but still enough to keep the small Gummi Ship Station open for business to the general public. Glancing across the landing pad, the brunette watched a few busy people who had already grabbed their belongings shuffle quickly to a covered area and past a railing that separated the to be boarding from those that were disembarking. Then there were those taking it all a bit slower, using meaningful steps as they journeyed out, bags in tow, towards perhaps loved ones or a relaxing destination here on this small yet quaint world.

He was home.

Storm blue eyes gazed at it all with a wistful happiness, growing wide though as he as he gazed out past the barricade and the line of departing people. His rhythmic heart suddenly skipped a beat.

His eyes had caught a glimpse of someone he knew.

“Can you get the bags, Axel?”

“What? Both of them!? But we’re almost-”

“I’ll be back to help in a moment.” Terra replied flustered as he had already started walking away from the redhead and towards the edge of the platform.

His thoughts were now reeling; heart pulsing to a rhythm that resounded through the passageway of his ears. Even the pace of his feet was uncontrolled, causing him to nearly stumble as he crossed the flat landing pad step by step.

“Mother!” He called out with a craving warmth he rarely even showed Axel as he neared the gate that separated them.

The woman he had caught sight of didn’t call back, only smiled with a smile the boy was sure no one else could possibly understand; it’s lighthearted yet solemn beckon, soundless and so powerful. Terra humbly pushed his way past a couple other passengers before finally coming to stand near face to face with her.

One constant hope was all he could ever wish for as he gazed upon her in way he didn’t think he ever truly had, the year apart suddenly bringing to light how much he had taken for granted. Just one hope. A hope that no matter what he could always come home to this. Her gracefully flowing brown hair and fair skin. Light rose colored lips accenting her smaller but unwavering frame.

“Terra.” She spoke as she looked up at his face, obviously trying to hold back any tears.

Both openly chuckled from happiness as they embraced. It wasn’t a one sided hug either. His mother may have been a good head shorter than him but her arms were seemingly as strong as his; her deceiving frame wrapped as perfectly close to him as she could manage. The embrace was warm with her head buried in his chest. Having a partner like Axel who was the same height as he was made him realize that it had been awhile since he felt his cheek rub against the sweet smelling hair of someone smaller than him.

“Welcome back.” Her voice hummed as they pulled apart but still held onto each others arms.

“Mother…” The brunette replied almost timidly as he hung on her every honey toned word. “I’ve missed you.”

“Ohh please! Don’t lie to me.”

Terra’s lips clammed suddenly shut as the soft glowing expression his mother was previously wearing began to turn and be replaced by an raised eyebrow and smug grin.

“I’ve read your letters. You’ve been having the time of your life out there.”

The boy opened his mouth as though to protest but he quickly thought better. It may have been just over a year since he had last seen his only living parent but she hadn’t changed at all. His mother was still not one to be messed with, let alone be argued with.

“You been working hard?” The woman asked in great seriousness, almost as though she was interrogating him.

“I have.” He answered, timing his reply to not sound too desperate or cowardly.

“Good.” She approved with a nod and a wide smile, her happiness still betraying her otherwise unfaltering parental appearance. “You look so strong now.”

“I owe it mostly to my new master and-”

“Thanks a lot, Terra!” An annoyed voice startled the brunette from behind.

“Axel!”

With almost panic, the boy released his mother's arms and turned full around as he remembered the existence of his partner that he had left alone near the gummi ship. The thoughts in his mind flashed that he needed to go help the redhead but his movement stopped short as he found his lover standing but a foot or two away from his face as he spun.

“You should really thank me for not leaving your bag out on the platform, you bastard.” Axel growled, carelessly dropping the brunette’s luggage with a rather heavy thud upon the ground next to their feet.

“I’m sorry. I just got caught up with… well...” Terra replied a bit flustered before he simply decided to step a bit out of the way.

With a wave of his arm he presented the person he had been talking to.

“Axel, this is my mother.”

The redhead starred a bit disoriented at the woman now before him, suddenly realizing he needed to turn his obvious aggravation into lavish charm, and fast.

“I’m very sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.” He stammered to regain his composure. Letting his own heavy bag slip off his shoulder, the boy gave a small bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Axel. I’m an upper classm-”

“You’re Terra’s boyfriend! It’s so nice to meet you finally!”

Green eyes became still by the woman’s words, unable to even blink.

“Ummm, yes…” Axel admitted, dumbfoundedly. With a glance over to his partner, he noticed that the brunette was just as unexpectedly shocked as he was. “Terra told you?”

“Not a chance.” The cheerful lady giggled, shaking her head with a wide smile. “But I know my son. With how much he mentioned you in his letters and even more since a few months ago, lets just say I know how to put two and two together.”

“Mother…” Terra placed his face in his palm in embarrassment. This was one of the few times he would allow himself to be openly embarrassed... and for good reason.

“Did you really think I was stupid enough not to guess when you said you were bringing him along with you?! What kind of bullshit is ‘he enjoys traveling and has shown interest in coming with me to see the festival’?”

The brunette bit down lightly on the inside of his lip, unable to say anything in return as his mother looked teasingly critical at him, almost as in sarcastic disappointment.

Axel however, only grinned.

“I like her.” The redhead turned to proclaim to the brunette, to which he saw the boy’s face drop even more afterwards.

“Well, welcome Axel. It’s so good to finally meet someone I’ve already heard so much about.” Her more pleasant, womanly tone returning as she also gave the redhead a small bow.

The fiery boy stepped forward with his normal devious grin and took the lady’s hands in his own.

“I hope you will come to think of me as your own son in this short time we will share together. It would be truly an honor to be the child of someone as beautiful as you.”

_Damn it!_

“Alright, lay off the charm, Axel!” The brunette barked, suddenly feeling a need to protect his mother from the wild animal he knew Axel was prone to becoming when he wished to be charming.

“What?” The redhead chuckled, feigning innocence as he cocked his head slightly in a bit of a pout.

“Terra!” Another lighthearted female voice called from a small ways off from the group.

The trio turned their heads towards the Docking Station’s entrance, seeing a slightly younger boy and girl waving madly at them from a distance.

“Aqua! Ventus!” The brunette cheered back, suddenly excited by the sight of his old comrades coming towards them very quickly.

The blue haired girl pushed forward past the blonde next to her as the two approached, not in rudeness but just in obvious glee as she widened her arms for a hug while she drew in close to her brown haired friend.

“It’s so good to see you!” She told him merrily as she practically jumped into his arms.

“Good to see you too, Aqua.” Terra replied with a hitched breath as the impact of the girl on him had pushed him backwards and almost off balance.

“Hey Terra.” Ventus calmly waved from a few paces off, trying to maintain a cool demeanor in front of his old friend.

“Hey Ventus.” The brunette waved back with a large smile once he had let the blue haired girl go.

“You look so good!” Aqua continued to admire, staring at her friend with slightly wandering eyes. “I guess all that rigorous training is just what you needed to get rid of all that remaining baby fat, huh?”

“I’ll say.” Axel’s contentious voice chimed in from behind the smokey blue eyed male.

Terra’s blood ran cold once again, however this time with a soundless terrified inhale. He had momentarily forgotten about having to introduce Axel to his old friends. Not that he had any control over the matter as he felt his partner’s chest brush up against his right shoulder and a hand softly caress the other side of his neck.

“Do I get introduced now?” The fiery boy asked with a sultry tone in the brunette’s ear, his hot breath churning the stomach and heart rate of the captured male.

“Sorry. Ummm…” Terra began when he noticed the very weird looks his friends were giving him. The expression the two bore was lodging a knot into his throat, not that he didn’t understand why they were looking at him that way. After all, he was sure he would be just as surprised and curious if he saw one of his friends with a strange male suddenly draped over them too.

“Aqua, Ventus, this is Axel.”

“Nice to meet you!” The redhead overpowered the brunette in both voice and action as he pushed forward from the boys shoulder to stand side by side with him. “I’m Axel, Terra’s boyfriend.”

The two newcomers fell quiet and Terra closed his eyes in heart pumping terror, his teeth grinding slightly together as he took in a deep and controlled breath.

Nope. That wasn’t at all how he had wanted to tell his friends his little secret... But leave it to Axel to completely disregard timing or atmosphere to be more straightforward and blunt than a dojo’s training sword.

“You’re his boyfriend?” Aqua questioned with lighthearted interest, gazing at the snarky redhead before her.

“Yep.” The fiery boy’s unbreaking confidence answered.

“Terra! Why didn’t you tell us you got yourself a boyfriend?!” The girl cried while pressing her brunette friend with a firm stare.

Terra remained dead silent, lips not touching but neither would they move to answer her. He figured Aqua would have this sort of reaction. After all, she had been the first to notice Terra’s interest in males when they were quite a bit younger. Still the pressing gaze of the blue headed female was making him sweat, and with a glance over at Ventus who was just as soundlessly dumbstruck as Terra feared he would be upon meeting his overly pronounced partner, the brunette felt his stomach flip.

“I think he was trying to keep it a surprise of sorts.” The had been silent voice of Terra’s mother, who had been watching the whole situation with a wide smile, laughed with satisfaction.

“I’m afraid I’m a bit of a spoiler when it comes to Terra’s plans.” Axel admitted with no hesitation.

“You think?!” Terra seethed to the boy next to him, sudden fiery emotions overtaking his mind and forcing his blue irises to glare the redhead down with a deadly passion.

Nope. This wasn’t how he wanted it to go at all. And Axel, once again, was loving this at the expense of his nerves.

“Aww, don’t be embarrassed Terra. It’s great that you got someone to look after you now, since Ventus and I are so far away!” Aqua teased in a warm manner.

“Were you expecting it to be someone like me though?” The redhead loudly asked in curiosity, turning his attention away from his steaming boyfriend and to the girl before him.

“Not exactly…” She hesitantly replied with a smirk. “I never figured he would go for someone with such an obviously bold personality.”

“It's the hair isn’t it?” Axel joked, brushing a hand against his spikey locks to which the girl just chuckled. The redhead could enchant anyone with a little time, oddly females especially. It was his signature, and he was proud of it.

“Your name’s Ventus, right?” The fiery boy looked over at the still rather stupefied blonde in hopes of winning the smaller boy over with his charisma too.

“Uhh, yeah. Nice to meet you.” The blonde answered awkwardly.

“Tell me, did Terra used to have as much of a stick up his ass with manners as he does now?”

“Don’t answer him, Ventus.” The brunette could have screamed, letting his words out with a rather scowling tone, his gaze only momentarily passing to the blonde before returning to his irritating lover. “And you! Stop trying to humiliate me.”

“I wouldn’t drea-!”

“ _Well_ , now that introductions and reunions are out of the way, why don't we head back home?” Terra’s mother suggested, cutting off the redhead and grabbing onto her son’s arm to look up at him with a gentle focus. Terra knew she had cut him off on purpose too. The brunette’s once again growing agitation was going to destroy more than just his mood soon and it would be in everyone's best interest to not have him explode in the first minutes of his return home.

“Allow me then.” Axel, completely unphased, turned charmingly to offer the older lady his arm. “Might I escort you?”

The brunette could only watch in a silent, unamused submission as his mother let out a sweet yet beguiled chuckle before accepting the fiery boys offer, allowing her arm to swing nimbly into his. With a slight spring in both their steps, the two began walking off towards the buildings exit, Axel’s voice softly chiming words of enchantment with questions about the woman and the world he was now on.

“He's quite the gentlemen, isn’t he?” Aqua laughed a bit more modestly but still with a wide smile as she poked the snide remark at her brunette friend.

“You have no idea…” Terra sighed his heaviest sigh of the day yet just before the blue haired girl turned to follow the other two out towards the main street.

There was a palpable air around the remaining duo as they stared at each other, trying to decide the proper action to take next was.

“You… want help with those bags?” Ventus asked while looking up at the emotionally worn brunette.

_Bags?_

“Axel! You-!” Terra seethed to himself as he he looked back to the floor behind him and realized that the redhead had left him with both bags to carry. And something in his mind told him that it was done more than likely on purpose. Apparently though he had said that loudly and strongly enough for the younger boy to hear him as the blonde’s eyebrows suddenly became even more raised with what Terra guessed was alarm and worry.

“Sorry.” Another long exhale escaped the brunettes lips as he mental forced himself to calm down. “And yes, thanks.”

“How was the flight?” Ventus asked as he grabbed up Terra’s bag and Terra, Axel’s.

“Long.” The brunette expressed with a forced chuckle as the two began to move out towards the rest of the town in pursuit of the others that had left them.

“You look pretty tired.” Ventus noted, walking side by side with the taller male, a smile slowly creeping on his face as they moved in unison.

“I didn’t sleep much last night.” Terra answered honestly albeit with slight weakness while looking fondly at the blonde next to him. “I was pretty anxious about coming back after all.”

“Why were you anxious?” The boy asked sincerely.

“Not anxious in a bad way” Terra corrected after giving it a deep thought, a smile creeping onto his face as he looked over at his friend.

“Or maybe slightly in a bad way.” He continued with a chuckle. “But I think I was just really looking forward to coming home.”

And with just that look, Ventus could feel his heart skipping beats.

Breaking out of the Docking Station building and into the open streets of the town, the two walked down the red stone pathway that led towards the other side of town. The blonde couldn’t help but amusedly laugh every time Terra pointed something out that he had forgotten, a shop here, a restaurant there. There were also the few moments that someone they both recognized stopped them to say a “hello” and “welcome back” before they continued on their way.

Ventus remained mostly silent, just looking straight forward at the road with only the occasional glance over at his comrade. But he couldn’t deny that he was captivated just by the sound of how undeniably cheery his old friend was becoming with seemingly every passing second they strode down the road. Terra’s breaths were becoming calmer, his posture stronger, the strain Ventus had sensed in the brunette’s smoky blue eyes when he had gazed upon him but a short while before was vanishing into the wind with every step they took down the warm streets on that summer day. Everything seemed to be returning to just like it used to.

“The bridge.” The taller boy spoke in excitement as the two finally reached and gazed upon the stone archway that crossed over the town river. “It feels like it’s been forever.”

“It’s been over a year after all.” Ventus laughed, jogging out to the bridge’s middle before he mused his way over to the railing, placing the bag he carried down to peer over the side.

“Nothing’s changed though.” Terra mentioned as he slowly walked over next to the boy and joined him in gazing over the edge into the wet abyss.

_Nothing?_

Ventus looked over at his friend. The calm contented look on the brunettes face was priceless to him. It _had_ been forever. Forever since he had felt this way, this excited, this happy. And forever since his eyes had had the chance to drink in the strong protective frame of the male who had accepted him like no one else had.

One thing he was remembering now too, It always seemed that the simplest things were meaningful to them both; gazing down at a river, or just up at the sky. How many times had they done this in the past? Just... simplicity.

There was no way the blonde would deny that he had been more than slightly worried that his friend had forgotten all of this and even Ventus himself in the year he was gone... but now that he was looking at him again, it seemed that Terra hadn’t forgotten anything or even changed much at all.

Except...

_Boyfriend._

Ventus’ smile dropped slightly as the word rang in his ears.

On the day Terra had left, he wished for nothing more than his friend’s safety and well being on that new world that seemed so far away. He hadn’t been able to vocalize those words to him then, but he hoped that his wavering eyes and sad expression that sunny day so long ago had expressed to his friend just how much he cared for him.

Terra was his first true friend. Terra was his support when he needed it. And Terra…

_Was the person who haunted your mind every day he was gone._

Ventus stared blankly outwards towards the horizon.

Maybe he was wrong. Wrong in that he was being selfish of Terra. His brunette friend had chosen to be with this boy, even if he wasn't anywhere near similar to he and Aqua as far as temperment from what Ventus had seen so far. But Terra was no fool, and not one to do something that would make him discontented in the long run. So that meant...

On this world or the other, tired, taken, or no, his friend was in fact happy. And in the end… that was all that mattered, right?

Terra had found someone to share his life and time with out there on that other world, and that was good. But still…

“Hey, Terra.”

“Yeah?” The brunette answered, turning his contentedly smiling face towards the blonde.

“I'm really glad you’re back.”

Terra’s smile turned wide with a hearty chuckle, his eyes suddenly and unthinkingly looking upwards towards the sky.

“So am I, Ventus.”

 

❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄.

 

“What a day...” Terra spoke to no one save for the scenery around him as he silently slipped through the back patio door and inhaled a deep breath of cooling fresh air.

The light chirping of summer crickets seemed to be the only constant noise audible to the brunettes ears, but he did take notice of the occasional breeze and the sparse clamor of feet shuffling in the house behind him. Stretching his arms towards the heavens, Terra slowly sat himself down cross legged on the wooden porch at the backside of his house.

The day had indeed been long, but it was almost over now. Thank Kingdom Hearts…

He was tired. Even more tired than usual, which was surprising, considering how often he stayed up late for training. But he had been using a whole different set of skills and muscles today, ones that he hadn’t used in a very long time to such extent. The amount of talking he had had to do…

His mother had spared little expense for the his welcome home gathering earlier that evening. Many of the brunettes old fellow keybearers in training and even Master Eraques’ Apprentice were guests at his house that night, each joyous to see him once again. Terra honestly couldn’t remember a time he had felt so strangely appreciated. The many “welcome back!”’s and “it’s so good to see you!”’s had given him a warm sense of nostalgia he most certainly wasn’t expecting to return to. It was nice. Surprisingly.

“Master Eraques is doing well. If he wasn’t out with The Watch doing the yearly world patrol before the festival, I'm sure he would be here to welcome you back too.” The Apprentice had told him when he had asked how the dojo and the uptight old man had been over the past year.

The brunette wouldn't deny that he felt slightly disappointed by the lack of his previous Master’s presence, but for most of the night he found that he could barely wipe a smile off his face. Axel wasn’t being quite as obnoxiously loud as Terra had feared his partner would be, which was a definite relief. Of course, Axel had still introduced himself as “Terra’s boyfriend” to everyone who walked through the door, but after some thought, the brunette realized that his fiery lover was taking some of the pressure off his shoulders by him not having to awkwardly and constantly explain the reason there was a redheaded stranger in his home.

“So tell us! What's it like living on another world?” Aqua asked him excitedly at one point in the evening.

“It was hard at first,” Terra admitted, thinking back to the first couple months he was there, “but after a while it became more routine. It’s a really nice world though. Big.”

Aqua and Ventus both chuckled at the remark.

“Made a lot of new friends?” Ventus asked him next.

“Not many. I’ll spend some time with a few of my fellow comrades on the weekends but mainly I just hang with Axel and his friends. ”

“I'm sure with his personality, he was a lot of them.” Aqua laughed as she glanced over towards the tuft of red locks that was sitting down not that far away from the talking trio.

“Yeah he does.” Terra couldn’t help but smirk as he spoke.

“And the dojo?” Ventus spoke again with excitement. “What’s it like?”

Terra took a moment to think how to describe it.

“It’s like ours but bigger, mostly all indoors though.” He began, looking down at his blonde friend with a smirk. “ **A lot** more students though. Actually, now that I’ve remembered it, I’ve started helping train a younger classmate that reminds me a lot of you, Aqua.”

“Like me?!” The female giggled in slight surprise as the brunette’s stance turned towards her.

“She’s still a kid,” A warm feeling rose in the brunettes core as he pictured his young pupil in his mind. “but she’s fairly mature for her age. Plus she mains magic attacks like you do. She’s very sweet, a bit emotional, but a quick learner. She’s tripped over her own feet a couple times in practice just like you used to, and she really likes ice cream, too!”

“Okay okay!” Aqua barked out with a laugh to stop the brunette from continuing on, a bit of a blush rising in her cheeks, “You’ve found a mini me over there, I get it!”

The two boys chuckled as they viewed the normally sensible female of their group become embarrassed, Terra remembering suddenly that the blue haired girl was a bit sensitive about her love of ice cream. It was her guilty pleasure, after all.

“Axel, would you help me grab some plates from the kitchen?” Terra’s mother asked as she came around into the parlor where the majority of people were conversing.

“Yes, ma’am!” The previously spoken about redhead popped up off the couch where he had been sitting, talking to a couple other of the Keybearer’s from Master Eraques’ dojo.

Axel sauntered gleefully over towards the lady, passing the chit-chatting trio as he did and making a point to brush his hand playfully across the front fabric of Terra’s shirt while also throwing his lover a cheeky wink as he walked past him.

Aqua giggled.

“He really is quite charming, Terra.”

“Yeah…” The brunette admitted quietly, still with a smile. The sensation of the boy’s hand, having disrupted the normal flow of fabric on his skin, had caused a slight flutter in his chest. “Yeah, he is.”

“While you’re back, we have to do all the things we used to do during the summer!” Ventus commented, suddenly pushing the conversation to a different topic.

“Like going down to the river!” Aqua mentioned next.

“I wanna spar with you again! See just how good you’ve gotten training in that fancy Dojo.” Ventus threw out next as he crossed his arms in a playfully challenging manor.

“Ventus, I bet you don't stand a chance now!” Aqua teased playfully, taking her hand and pushing against the younger boy’s bicep.

“I’ve gotten better too, you know!” The blonde barked back at his female friend while scowling at her.

“We still have a couple days before the festival, I’m sure we can fit it all in.” Terra agreed in between his chuckling at the scene.

A strange feeling whelmed in his gut as he spoke out these things with his old friends. It felt odd to be planning about going to the river or even the festival, it was something so obvious before. But now he was timed. And he needed to make the most of that time. He had missed this so much, the sound of his friends voices chiming playfully in his ears. Ventus’ shy but eager personality being constantly kept in check but nonetheless nurtured by Aqua’s motherly temper.

There was so much he wanted to do again, together with these two... and at the moment, a nice relaxing day playing and floating in and around the towns cool clear water sounded perfect.

“Tomorrow then,” Terra spoke as he made up his mind on the matter. “let’s spend the day down at the river like old times!”

“Terra…! Shouldn’t you show Axel around first before spending a full day out playing?” The mature voice of the brunettes mother interjected as she suddenly appeared walking towards them with several food covered plates in hand.

_What…?_

Axel came round the corner with several plates as well, his green eyes gleaming. The redhead said no words, but looking over into his face, Terra could sense the mischievous yet almost puppy like excitement in his expression.

“That would be the better thing to do first, wouldn’t it?” Aqua agreed after a moment. “We can take Axel to the town’s cafe. Or show him the dojo!”

A small twinge of disappointment had sparked in the brunettes chest when he met eye contact with his lover, but as he glanced back towards his mother, he noticed that she was giving him a rather chastising look. It was the right thing to do. Terra knew that, but still...

_Say It._

Leading his eyes back to his partner though, the brunette began turning his mind to acceptance as he noticed how giddy Axel seemed in that moment.

“Sure.” Terra concurred finally. “There’re plenty of places we can go and some people I would love to see again anyways.”

_Say it._

“Tour of the town it is!” Aqua exclaimed in a manor that almost made her sound like cheer girl.

Axel strangely continued being silent, he was still smirking of course, but as Terra gazed at him, there seemed to be something different... Something he didn’t think he had ever seen since they had begun dating. Or maybe it was the way that he was looking at Axel that was different. Terra couldn’t quite put his finger on it…

The seemingly gentle expression the redhead wore disappeared in a blink of the eye and back into his normal playful charm as he threw out a kiss to the brunette he was staring at with invisible intensity. The action strummed through Terra as it normally did, tensing up his check muscles as though he wanted to blush, but something deep inside his chest was holding it back. In fact, the feeling was making him feel barely sick inside.

_Say it._

“Terra?” Ventus questioned with a bit of concern as the brunettes eyes continued to hold a solemn gaze at Axel’s now turned back.

“Sorry.” The older male voiced, turning his attention back to his two friends. “I was ju…- I mean, I was…- I guess I…-”

“Got lost in thought?” Aqua finished for him after a moment of Terra’s mouth holding open in the wake of his stammering.

“Yeah.” Terra laughed in slight embarrassment, raising a hand up to his check and messaging the suddenly tight skin with circular motions.

_What just happened?_

Stealing a glance over towards the couches again, Terra slowly sucked in a deep breathe. Fiery red hair that heated his skin. Bright green eyes that captured him every time he gazed into them. These were a constant; his constant. Or they were supposed to be...

After all, Axel was still Axel to the very end.

And he… he was still Terra. To the very end.

With a couple blinks and a firm mind the brunette breathed out his submission and continued to once more converse normally with his friends.

And the rest of the night continued on as any house party should have.

The guests came and went, and the golden summer evening started turning before there was time for anyone to enjoy it. Gold turned to amber, amber to orange, and orange bled its color away to violet before the regal darkness of blue assumed its place as king across the sky. As the hours passed, it became more and more evident to the brunette just how quickly time was moving. And in a moment of fear as the last few visitors started to leave, he realized just how short this trip really was.

As he stood there, in the front doorway of his own home alone with his lover, his first day back nearly spent, something in the brunette boy’s gut clenched.

He had so much to think about…

“You okay?” Axel asked him just after they had both said goodbye to Aqua and Ventus for the night.

“I think so.” The brunette answered with a slight wavering in his tone, his brow furrowed a bit as he truly thought about the question.

“Why don’t you go relax? Your mom and I will finish cleaning things up.”

Terra could see that Axel was trying to be thoughtful of him, which was rare on most days but not something he would ever turn his nose up at.

“Okay.” His compliance was partly in exashstion. “If you need help though-.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know! I promise I won’t break any of your mom’s dishes.” Axel teased.

Terra guessed that he was thinking back to an incident that had occured around when they first started dating where Axel had thoughtfully wanted to help clean up after dinner one night and ended up dropping and breaking several of Terra’s plates instead.

_That was a day…_ He remembered with a small smirk.

Relaxation. He had needed it so badly. And as he slipped out the back door of his house like a thief in the night to muse the wooden porch of his backyard, it reminded him how tired he truly was. But now, here he was, sitting silently, an unexpressed emotion holding his eye’s captivated on the dark sky above him.

It was finally time. No more waiting in anxiety about seeing his mother and friends again. He was here, and now there should have been nothing short of a catastrophe that should dampen his mood. Terra knew all that mentally, but he supposed that actually being relaxed was a bit harder than just thinking about it.

Solitude. A hollow feeling began overtaking him as he thought of that word in his mind.

Terra had always enjoyed the company of others over just his own, and he had had that for so many years before he left this world. Aqua and Ventus filling the void that was now tearing at his heart as he sat there in the cool air of the expanding night. When he had moved to his new world too, he had filled in his nights with practice, wandering about the student and apprentice filled halls until the night was ready to break him.

Had he really been that scared? Afraid of being alone? Was his drive as a keybearer truly so fueled by an insecurity? Sure, Axel too had filled a strange void in him, he wouldn't deny. A longing that he supposed every human has at some point, but still...

“Am I…,” Terra whispered to himself with a sudden twinge of fear, “really that weak?”

The sound of a sliding door next to him called the brunette back from his mind’s wandering.

“Whew, I'm beat.” Axel’s voice groaned as he suddenly joined his lover in viewing the starry night sky.

The brunette continued to gaze outwards as he waited a moment to reply, a smile of relief unconsciously creeping on his face.

“Really? I thought that with all the attention you were getting today that you wouldn't be tired at all.” Terra finally said with a stealthy raised eyebrow.

“I'm tired because of all the attention!” The redhead exclaimed as his body slumped down till his butt flopped on the porch with a comical thud. “Answering questions all day long is hard. 'Where did you two meet?' 'How long have you been dating?' 'How long have you been wielding your own key?'”

Terra loosed a light chuckle, amused at the wear his normally resilient partner was showing. An unexpected feeling of warmth began growing in him with the redhead now sitting down by his side.

“I'm tired too.”

“I’ll bet I'm more tired than you are.” The normal backtalk of the redhead met the brunettes laid back remark.

“ **No...** ” Terra enforced with drawn out annunciation similar to a disciplining parent, while uncrossing his legs to let them hang out over the porch's edge.

“‘No’ what!?” Axel asked, taking a stern and rather surprised glance at his partner.

“We are not making a bet out of this.” Terra continued, keeping his gaze skywards.

The fiery boy chuckled.

“You really think I'm that petty?”

“Yes.” The brunette replied sharply and with no hesitation.

Axel chuckled again.

“You really do know me so well.” The soothing, warming tone of Axel's voice chimed into the symphony of the night's heartbeat.

Terra’s storm blue pupil’s shimmered as he sneakily glanced at his lover from the corners of his eyes. The burden of fear was somehow melting away from him, the raising of his lips into a smile pulling him out of the dark depths of his own mind.

Perhaps it was no zen garden, but the view from the porch of Terra's house suddenly felt just as calming to him. The night sky dazzled just as brightly as the ones he had seen on the other world; a strange and necessary parallel that he now understood was a connection he could hold on to forever. All the worlds across the vast cosmos were intertwined, their skies just as fearless and haunting as the world next to its.

_No matter where I am..._ The thought popped into his head like a profound poem. A silly and childish moment of wisdom.

“Ahhhh...” Axel suddenly voiced with a long contented sigh, stretching his arms upwards to release the strain in his own muscles.

With effortless movements the redhead flopped over sidewards towards his lover. His head abruptly hit the boy's shoulder with mild but rather blunt force, startling Terra as it did which in return was met with a violent twitch of the brown haired boy’s upper muscles.

“Oww!” Axel voiced loudly after the twitch of Terra's shoulder had jabbed up roughly into his skull.

“I'm sorry!” Terra panicked, his turned body and hands moving outwards to his partner to check if he was okay.

The redhead rubbed his scalp like a young child who had bumped his head.

“That hurt, you bastard!”

“I'm sorry!” The brunette said again, his heart still racing slightly as the boy glared at him. “I didn't mean to.”

Terra gently took over the rubbing of the boy's head, pushing away the strands of fiery red follicles as he tenderly massaged the area with vain hope that the care would make the pain his partner felt disappear.

Axel's agitation of the event quickly vanished as his Terra’s fingers continued their attention. One hand on the back of his head, the other swirling against his skin, it reminded him of something... Terra's face, strained and apprehensive, but passionate and sincere. Glowing deep blue eyes that begged him not to hate him.

“We've flipped.”

“What?” Terra asked confused, ceasing his gentle massage for a moment.

“Me, rubbing your head gently? Remember?”

The two stared at each other silently, Axel now smiling shrewdly.

The redhead watched his lover's breathing slow to almost nothing, a soundless submission even with those blue eyes holding firm on his own. Of course Terra remembered, the sudden change in the brunettes countenance proved it to him. The brown haired boy had changed over the past few months. It was a slow change but obvious when Axel thought to compare it back to the the boy he had known that day in the changing room those few months ago. That event still brought a chuckle up from the redhead's chest when he thought about it on the odd occasion.

“You were really trying to kill me that night.”

“I sometimes wish I had succeeded.” Terra spoke with a deep tone of sarcasm, still holding his gaze ever strong against the redhead's now sparkling green.

“Hehe, I bet.” Axel countered with his normal, arrogant tone. “Now, don’t freak out this time.”

“What?”

Falling out of the brunettes hold with a bit slower and careful movements this time, Axel slumped forward, not bothering to try again for the brunettes shoulder but instead laying himself out with the side of his head resting upon Terra’s upper thighs.

Terra smiled childishly, eyes wide and attentive, as the boy continued squirming into a comfortable position on him, the fiery boy’s body and head fully turned outwards towards the yard. As he looked down at his relaxed lover, protective strength poured into the brunette’s mind. This had never happened before. Well he couldn't think of a chance that the two had gotten to do something like this, but still… Axel was lying down on him. And he looked so contented and peaceful now.

The contact was so mild but somehow all engulfing to the memorized brunette. It wasn’t the same fluttering that he normally would get from Axel’s flirtations. His heart was beating normally to a steady rhythm. The redhead needed him right now to remain still, to be a comfort and support, and that was something Terra could do very well. This was just love, The brunette thought with a grin.

A desire hit him suddenly as he sat there still, another thing that he had never done with his lover and something that resounded through him like a chime. And it would make him so happy inside… With a deep smile and calm movements, the brunette lifted his hand to his partners head and began to stroke the soft mess of fiery red hair. Axel hummed a bit at the first few touches, stoking a romantic warmth inside the brunette’s core.

_Say it… Anything._

“Axel?” He spoke out in solid tone.

“Yeah?” The redhead’s casual voice replied.

Terra paused for a moment, taking in his thoughts and feelings.

For tonight, in this moment, Axel needed him, relied on him to be there.

Maybe… Just maybe, Axel understood him. Maybe in his own selfish way, he was trying to show Terra that he realized the occasionally sparking fears that prodded the boys mind. The brunette doubt it would last, but for this moment, Axel was exactly what he needed. **_This_** was exactly what he needed.

“I’m glad you came here with me.”

“Well, you know you would be bored here without me.”

Terra’s chest heaved a few chuckles of disbelief as he shook his head.

Stroking the boys head a few more times, the brunette turned his soft gaze upon his lovers relaxed body, starting down at his bent legs and then slowly bringing it up to the redhead’s barely heaving torso, then to the exposed nape of his neck, before ending with him looking down upon his lover’s resting and rather vulnerable head.

“Yeah.” Terra agreed with a seductive tone, stopping his gentle petting to swirl a pattern with his fingers just behind the redhead’s ear and next to his hairline. “I guess I would be.”

 

❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄. ❄.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear Kingdom Hearts,  
> Please stop fighting me when I'm writing this story, I really do love these two characters T.T
> 
> Another chapter down! How it warms my soul to say that. Thank you once again for reading! If you are enjoying this pairing/story, please leave me a comment or a kudo! 
> 
> -From Cyprus  
> With Love. ❄

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on my new Tumblr for updates and sneak peeks on upcoming works, including snippets of this one ^_^.
> 
> https://rebirthwriting.tumblr.com


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